


Turn Me When I'm Twenty

by Slysilverslytherin87



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Bloodlust, Human Nico, M/M, Percico - Freeform, Sexual Tension, Supernatural Abilities, Supernatural Elements, Vampire Coven - Freeform, Vampire Family, Vampires, vampire percy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2018-08-23 10:02:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8323633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slysilverslytherin87/pseuds/Slysilverslytherin87
Summary: Percy held his breath. He hadn’t fed in days and the mortal’s scent was just an aphrodisiac to him. He needed to control his thoughts about the mortal’s blood. Because as much as he had hoped to find out who the mystery person was, he had never pondered what he’d do after meeting him. As much as he’d love to devour the human before him, he had never killed or even drank from someone with such a pure soul.----Features: Vampire Percy, Human Nico, rest of the seven as vampires and a surprising turn of events leading to Percy and Nico finding nocturnal love.





	1. Thirst

** Chapter 1: Thirst. **

“Percy, please!” said Annabeth. “Listen to me. You need to feed yourself first. The Thirst is going to make you suck someone of all their blood.”

Percy groaned. “We’ve been over this already, Anne. I can control myself. My eyes still look green, don’t they?”

“Are you stupid?” said Piper. She stood up gracefully from the loveseat she was reclining on. “You haven’t fed in nearly half a month. Even as old as you are, you might end up draining some poor sophomore for their blood.”

“I can handle this.” Percy said, determined. “Besides, the Thirst intensifies every scent a hundred times. I just need to find out who that person is.”

They two girls looked at each other. Percy was adamant, very, and they knew they had lost when Percy brought up the topic of the mystery _person_. Neither of them knew who that person was, but just some days ago, Percy had had one whiff of the scent of that person and was instantly addicted. The blood had sung to him.

Even though that had been a week ago, Percy, even with his super natural abilities, was unable to track down that _person_. Just a faint lingering smell of the delicious blood and Percy had been entranced, standing in the same spot until he had breathed the last of that scent.

Everyone in the coven had gagged when Percy had told them about this. The way Percy had described the scent, everyone had suddenly become curious as to who the scent might belong to. According to Percy, it was unlike anything he had smelt or taste before.

Piper laid a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. They both shared a long look. Then Annabeth’s eyes locked with Percy’s green ones. She gave him a nod as she left the room in an inhuman speed. Piper exited more gracefully.

* * *

School bored everyone. Percy, even as a centuries old vampire, found school to be completely useless and boring. It was something Percy had to do in order to keep up appearances, but now, he was genuinely eager to attend because he was certain the _person_ came from their same school.

Last Friday, Percy had been the first to reach the school gates. He had waited for nearly half an hour before the gates opened and he was finally let in. But he had wasted the entire day as it seemed that the Person had just not bothered enough to even come to school that day.

On Monday, Percy took his car to school. He never usually did that, because he could always reach the school in record time by just running, no matter when he left his house. He sighed as he looked around to find a suitable parking space for his Honda Civic. He stepped out of the car and he just froze. The person was near, his scent scorching Percy’s throat. He held his breath as he looked around. He snapped his head from side to side as he felt eyes on him. He scanned the entire car-park in an instant, yet it was void of anyone. The only movement nearby was a pigeon fluttering its wings.

The scent was disappearing, steadily fading in the fresh air. He stood there, breathing it till it lasted and then rushed to the lecture he was supposed to attend with the sweet smell imprinted in his brain.

* * *

When the recess came, Percy stood in the washroom, staring at his pale reflection in the mirror. His eyes had started turning gold from the Thirst. Just before the scheduled ring of the bell, Percy heard the creak of the washroom door opening. And then Percy just had to close his eyes as he breathed in ecstasy, because, Holy creators, that scent. It filled his nostrils completely, taking over the last holds Percy had on sanity as he gripped the tiled basin in a strong grip.

The object of the scent and the reason of his Thirst stepped in. He had his ear phones plugged in and was listening to something with the words _Take me home_ in it multiple times. His head was bent down and his slightly curly locks shone with radiance that Percy mentally slapped himself for being a poet.

Then the Person looked up and his eyes widened. He took a step back, but before he could even open the door to run, Percy had pushed him against the door. Percy’s lips found the pale throat of his mystery as he inhaled a long whiff of the alluring scent. He licked his lips. The person grunted above him as Percy’s cold fingers held his hands at his side, trapping him completely.

“Get off, you vampire.” Snarled the Person as he futilely struggled against Percy’s strong hold.

Well, this was new. None of his preys before had been able to speak articulate speech in his proximity. Yet here was the Person, still cursing on about Percy.

“You blood sucking leech, you pathetic little mosquito...”

Ok, what was that now?

Percy looked directly in the Person’s doe-shaped dark eyes. His speech faltered. Much better.

“I’ve waited long for this human, so long.” Admitted Percy. He nuzzled himself closer to the Person’s jugular.

“I know, that’s why I did my best to avoid you.”

Those words seemed like hot wax poured into Percy’s ears.

“You. Deliberately. Avoided. Me.” Percy said, his voice unbelieving and skeptic.

“I also did my best to steer clear of the other vampires.” Said the Person, swallowing his fear. If he was going to die, well it was best to show his killer that it was Nico-1, Vampires-0.

The Person had amazed Percy. He had indeed quite successfully managed to avoid all the vampires, Percy included. He had Percy almost running amok for the faintest trace of the scent.

But what amazed him more was that the Person was just as ravishing as his scent, with dark hair and doe-shaped brown eyes. And a very untainted soul, too.

“How did you figure it out?” Percy asked. He sensed fear in the mortal, along with hatred. Percy couldn’t quite place why he felt bothered by it.

“Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.” Snorted the mortal. “You are all very pale and avoid sunny days like a plague. I’ve never seen you eating in the cafeteria. Your eyes change colours frequently. And I know about your super strength, too.”

Percy raised an eyebrow at him. Was this called black-mailing? “What super-strength?”

“You’ve got some ability to make people obey you. You keep the others loyal to you. I don’t exactly know how, but you do it.

Percy smirked. “You’ve been watching me very closely, mortal.” Percy caressed his cheek making him turn his head at the contact. It exposed more of the flawless throat to Percy.

Percy held his breath. He hadn’t fed in days and the mortal’s scent was just an aphrodisiac to him. He needed to control his thoughts about the mortal’s blood. Because as much as he had hoped to find out who the mystery person was, he had never pondered what he’d do after meeting him. As much as he’d love to devour the human before him, he had never killed or even drank from someone with such a pure soul. Percy grit his teeth.

“What’s your name?” Percy asked instead.

The mortal swallowed, surprised by the question. “Nico. Nico di Angelo.” He said.

“Italian?” Percy asked. The name was unbelievable fitting to the mortal. Angelic and pure. Without waiting for a response he said. “I’m Percy Jackson, vampire extraordinaire.”  Percy flashed Nico his fangs.

He expected Nico to flinch away or even scream. But, instead there was almost an unmistakable shine in his eyes- curiosity. Nico looked in a trance as he lifted his free hand to touch the fangs. His fingertips brushed the gleaming fangs. Percy watched with dark eyes, holding his breath, until-

“Ah!” Nico gasped as the sharpness of the fangs cut his skin on the fingertip. Percy’s eyes grew gold at the sight of the blood trickling down Nico’s fingertip in a bloody line.

Without warning, Percy closed his lips on Nico’s finger, tasting him for the first time. The taste was even more addicting than the smell. The blood was nectar to taste and Percy embraced nirvana lapping at the crimson liquid. His eyes closed, sucking on even though the flow of blood from the small aperture decreased.

His eyes opened in a flash as he heard an involuntary moan escaping Nico’s lips. Nico’s head was thrown back, resting on the bathroom as his fist curled in Percy’s t-shirt.

Percy hadn’t actually wanted to stop, didn’t even dream of doing so until Nico’s face swam in his vision. He abruptly pulled back and Nico’s eyes flew open. His cheeks were dusted with a light pink and lips were parted slightly . his eyes were wide with horror and confusion as he stared intently at his moist finger.

Nico looked up to find Percy closer than he had expected. Again, without warning, Percy moved. But this time, Nico felt Percy’s lips on his own.

Percy’s lips were firm, pink and cold. Nico gasped as Percy pulled him closer with one hand on his waist as the other hand tilted his head upwards, angling Nico to kiss him deeper.

Nico’s lips moved on their own accord with Percy’s and his hands curled in Percy’s hair. But then Percy felt Nico’s heat-beat increase as his lips moved slower. Nico swayed in the kiss as his head spun. He broke off the kiss.

Nico didn’t even look at Percy as his head fell on his shoulder with a thud. Nico had fainted, right there, in Percy’s arms.

* * *

 

 


	2. Mate

**Chapter 2: Mate**

\Nico didn't feel as if the world had shifted or he had any heightened sense of hearing. With what little he could hear with his human ears, there was just silence.

When he had woken up a few minutes ago, it was to two girls watching him with bored faces. The two girls, uh- vampires, were beautiful with very pale skin. The two were standing with mirroring looks, except the blonde one had her left eyebrow raised. The other girl, the brunette, was someone he recognized. She was definitely from Percy's coven. He didn't know her name though.

Speaking of Percy, the coven leader was nowhere to be seen. Nico glanced at his fingertip and inhaled sharply. The cut had disappeared completely, leaving his fingers as unblemished as before.

Just then the brunette vampire moved, too quickly, and appeared at the foot of the bed he was on. Nico let out a surprised scream. The loud noise made the vampire flinch and she moved a step back from the bed. But Nico didn't stop screaming, not even when the brunette grit her teeth and covered her ears, nor when the blonde one started snarling. He did, however, had to stop when his throat became sandpaper dry.

By then two more vampires had appeared in the doorway. They were boys, both very different from the other. One was a short, elfin boy with curly black hair and brown eyes. The other had blond hair and bright blue eyes with a somewhat muscular build.

"So, who died?" Said the dark haired vampire. All the four guffawed loudly at that, almost as if it were an inside joke. Stupid rascals, those vampires.

"He does smell good." The blond boy said as the rest three hummed in agreement. The blonde girl was approaching Nico with a hunger in her eyes. The kind of hunger that made her eyes change from silver grey to a golden hue.

"I don't think Percy'd mind if I had a quick drink."

The brunette girl was in a flash beside the blonde one. She gripped her hand tightly. "Annabeth, I don't -"

"He let Percy take his blood." Annabeth said, licking her lips. "I won't drain him completely. Wanna leave something for you guys."

In a split second, Nico was on his back, pinned to the bed by Annabeth. Her palm pressed against his left cheek, exposing his jugular. "You smell divine, mortal." She licked a column at his throat. Nico's skin burned wherever her lips touched his skin.

A sob broke out of his mouth. The burn was too much. "No!" He shouted, thrashing his legs wildly, seeing as they were the only limbs not under Annabeth's hold. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the blond male vampire mutter something to the curly haired boy beside him who took out his phone and rapidly started tapping on it.

"Please, don't." Nico whimpered. Annabeth merely laughed lightly as she sunk her fangs in his skin.

Nico let out a loud gasp as soon as his skin was torn through by the fangs. A tear escaped his eye as no more sounds emerged from his parted lips. He felt like someone was pouring acid down his throat. No, it was more excruciating. The blood was being drained out of his body for a second time, but this was nothing like the first. It was painful, very so, as if someone was wringing his neck with spikes. He had never wished more to just die.

He could barely feel now. His senses had slowly started shutting down. Just then something strange happened. The weight holding him down disappeared and he heard the unmistakable sound of glass breaking after something heavy collided with it.

"Oh, Holy Elders!" Said a voice so faintly that Nico almost missed it. But Nico knew that voice. He'd notice even a whisper of it in a busy hallway. He had, after all, managed to keep the vampires off his trail for quite a while.

"Nico? Open your eyes, come on." Whispered Percy, stroking his hair.

Nico let out a sob as he tried to flutter his eyes open. Percy's face swam into his sight. The coolness of Percy's fingertips which had gone unnoticed by Nico until now, brought a whirlwind of senses back to him. Percy's eyes were a dark forest green now, and his pink lips were moving, saying something that Nico failed to catch.

"Hold still, Nico."

Nico processed the words a little too late. Until then Percy had already bowed down and his tongue flicked at the wound on Nico's throat. His tongue lapped at the wound, but it didn't burn. It wasn't pleasurable as it had been when Percy had drunk from him. Yet it didn't hurt and was soothing in a way. Nico sighed contentedly, unaware of five pairs of eyes watching him.

Percy's fingers came to rest on the spot where Annabeth had bitten, but now it didn't hurt anymore. There was no one holding him down, there were no fangs tearing his skin, no vampire sucking his blood.

He was actually in Percy's embrace, his hair lightly brushing Nico's forehead. Nico looked in Percy's eyes. There was an undeniable curiosity in them regarding Nico, but also there was concern.

"Percy?" Nico whispered up at him.

Percy just smiled in response. This smile was new to Nico's eyes. It wasn't the usual holier-than-thou smirk on Percy's face but a genuine smile he had never before seen on Percy's lips. "Healed it." Percy whispered back.

Percy looked up at the other vampires. "Annabeth is exiled, for two weeks from today. Make sure she gets the message."

The blond boy spoke next, "Percy, isn't two weeks a bit-"

"She did not respect my direct order Jason. Had I not made it clear that no one touches him? Thought she'd have remembered that much." Percy said, shooting a glare at Jason. Authority. "Now, I'd like a moment to speak with Nico alone."

The vampires nodded to Percy and one by one disappeared from the room as quietly as they had come. Jason was the last to leave as he shut the door behind him.

Nico turned back to see Percy already watching him.

"Where were you?" He asked Percy, his hand resting on Percy's cheek as it stroked the marble like skin.

Percy closed his eyes at the contact. "I was hunting." He replied simply.

A silence followed his words in which Nico was aware only of the beautiful green eyes boring into his and the cool skin beneath his fingertips.

"Why didn't you let her kill me?" Asked Nico with a small voice.

Percy pulled Nico up like a rag doll, till he was sitting on the bed leaning back comfortably on the cusions that Percy had swiftly arranged for him.

"I don't want you to die." Percy's words seemed true to Nico, but his motive to keep him alive was sketchy.

"So that you can keep me as your personal blood bank?" Asked Nico, bitterness lacing his voice. His eyes had narrowed and lips were pulled tight. The atmosphere had changed, become tensed with Nico's words.

Percy acted as if he hadn't heard Nico at all. "Annabeth hasn't yet mastered the control over her Thirst. Your blood sung to her just as it sung to me. It does to everyone." His eyes were staring down intently at the plush carpet, as if determined to find out the thread count. "But that didn't permit her to drink from you."

"You drank from me." Pointed out Nico. Percy's eyes flashed a darker green as his head whipped up. The intensity of his glare made Nico flinch. A few gold flecks were visible in his irises.

"I didn't kill you, mortal. Annabeth could have done that without any delay. She would have felt no remorse, absolutely no regret in sucking you dry."

Nico's eyes were moist. No one had ever used that tone with Nico. The venomous words hurt Nico more than they probably should have and reduced him to a tearful state. Percy's eyes were unforgiving as they bore in Nico's, further intimidating him

"Why don't you want me dead, Percy?"

"You are no harm alive." Percy said with a shrug. "Besides, my coven does not hurt people like you."

Nico blinked his eyes to clear the tears. "People like me?" He asked with his eyebrow raised. His nose had scrunched up at the thought that Percy was going to discriminate with him on the basis of his sexuality. It was Percy who had kissed Nico not the other way around. If Percy was going to be a hypocrite, then Nico was going to surely give that archaic pest a piece of mind.

"Yes, people like you. Mortals who are innocent and goody-two-shoes."

Nico bit the inside of his cheek. "What?"

"And malnourished."

"Innocent, goody-two-shoes and malnourished?" Nico asked with eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Definitely malnourished. I mean look at how pale you are. Someone might mistake you for a vampire instead."

"Others might mistake me for a vampire?" He questioned, feeling like an idiot.

Percy frowned. "Tell me, Nico, is it just you or are all the mortals so slow in grasping a point. Or do you have some mental affliction?"

"Me? I am not mad!" Protested Nico.

"Why else do you keep repeating after me?"

"Because I genuinely couldn't believe the idiotic things that you were stupidly mumbling about me." Huffed Nico, crossing his arms.

"Well, I've barely had any civil interaction with a human for years, so you can't blame me." Percy shrugged. Then a smirk appeared on his face. "Besides, you did look like a retard with your eyes wide and mouth open like a goldfish."

Nico's ears burned. "You are such a prat!" He shouted, exasperated.

"No, I'm a vampire." Said Percy, as a matter of fact.

"Then you're a vampiric prat. But a prat, nonetheless" Nico said, sticking out his tongue briefly.

Percy's eyes narrowed. "Speak to me with respect, you immature mortal. I can tear you limb from limb if I wish to do so."

Nico's stomach dropped. Now that was a threat he had never heard directed to him. He struggled to keep his expression calm. He rolled his eyes to appear nonchalant. "I can expose your entire coven if I wanted to."

Blackmail, hell yeah. Take that vampy.

"I'll just bite you, then." Percy said, his smirk set firmly in place. His eyes danced with mischief as he said - "But I have a feeling that you'll like it and moreover, even enjoy it."

Nico flushed. Their little incident in the high school bathroom flashed before him. He actually had liked it when Percy had drank from him. Hell, he was pretty sure that he had even moaned at some point. But hell would freeze over if he ever admitted it aloud.

It wasn't as if he was going to allow any vampire to drink from him from now on. He was going to be more alert. His blood was his and his own, only. He'd die protecting his own blood if the time came, but sincerely hoped that it may never come to that.

"Percy, why didn't it burn when you drank from me?" He questioned instead, deflecting the embarrassment that was prone to have on his cheeks.

Percy frowned. "Wait, it really didn't burn?" He paused as Nico shook his head. His green eyes grew unfocussed as they stared at something behind Nico. "Did it burn when Annabeth did it?"

Nico nodded furiously. "It did, a lot. Felt as if someone was pouring concentrated acid in my throat and I could barely move and my muscles almost locked from fear and -" he broke off with a shuddering breath. His voice had wavered at the end and his eyes had glossed over. His fingers gripped the bed-sheet in the sheer horror that just the memory brought as goose bumps erupted on his hands.

He didn't know why, but he had almost expected it to happen when Percy had covered his hand with his own cold one. Percy's eyes were still looking at something behind Nico. Nico expected him to say something, to explain why it had burned so much or even a tiny part of him wished Percy would console him. But all he got in response was another question.

"How did it feel when I drank from you?"

Nico flushed again. "I-uh, I- how can I just describe that. What sort of question is that?"

Percy looked at Nico with a masked face. There was absolutely no emotion in his eyes as well. He looked just like the vampire that Nico had come to fear.

"Nico, answer me. Did it burn when I drank from you?"

Nico stuttered. "No. It didn't burn."

"How did it feel then?"

Nico gulped. The stare that Percy was giving him pierced through his entire being. "It felt good. Like not the good kind of feeling when you eat a chocolate or go to a party, but like, um, like finding something that makes you cherish the moment."

Percy's lips pursed together. "It felt good." He muttered. He took both of Nico's hands in his own. "Nico, please answer this as truthfully as possible. What colour are my eyes right now?"

Nico answer in an instant without any hesitation. "Green. But with gold flecks."

Percy came closer. "And now?" He asked.

The eyes changed colour, growing more golden with just a few green flecks." Golden green." Nico said.

Percy came closer until their noses were almost touching. "And now?" His breath ghosted over Nico's lips.

"Gold." He answered, feeling giddy.

Percy inched closer, sliding his fingers on Nico's arms, leaving goose flesh in their trail. He was so close now that his lips brushed Nico's as he asked -"Now?"

"Darker." His lips brushed against Percy's. Without wasting another second, Percy's lips moulded with Nico's, making Nico gasp in Percy's mouth. Percy's tongue immediately entered Nico's parted lips, stroking his tongue softly, eliciting gasps from the mortal. Nico's hands came up to Percy's neck, enclosing around them and pulling him closer.

But Percy was slowly drawing back. He sucked on Nico's lower lip as he completely pulled back, resting his cool forehead on Nico's warm one. Re arched an eyebrow as Nico's eyes fluttered open. He looked dazed.

Nico let out a puff of air before staring right in Percy's eyes. "So beautiful." He murmured. His own eyes were probably dilated. "So dark. Almost, as if black."

Percy's hands left Nico's as he drew back and watched Nico's pupils reduce back to normal. "This can't be." He murmured, shaking his head at Nico, trying to delude himself of the obvious.

"Percy?" Nico questioned. His voice was increasing with every word "What's wrong with me? Why do I not understand what I am doing when you are around? Why can't I stop you from being near?"

"Nico, you have no idea." Said Percy. A sad smile graced his lips. "You just can't stay away from me, can you? Just like I won't be able to." He gave a mirthless laugh.

Nico stood up so fast that he felt dizzy. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Hadn't he just pledged that he would protect himself? How was he going to manage when he craved Percy's kisses like Oxygen? Why did his rational thoughts desert him when Percy was so near? Most importantly, why was Percy looking at him like he had hung the moon?

"Percy, what's going on?" He said, taking small steps backwards as the vampire rose from his position on the bed. His back hit the wall and he realised there was no more room for hum to move, as Percy had already moved very close in an infinitesimally short time.

But something bothered Nico more than it should. It was the look in Percy's eyes. There was an unmistakable emotion in them as they stared at Nico- affection.

"Do you know why I craved your scent so much? Why just the taste of your blood set my whole being on fire? Why I can't just keep away from you even, though you're just an ordinary mortal?" He closed in on Nico, trapping him against the wall. His eyes had turned dark again, seeming like bottomless voids of black. His hand was resting on Nico's cheek, making Nico gasp from the sheer coolness contrasting his warm skin.

"I know Nico. I know why you can't keep away. I know that you lose your grasp on your thoughts when I'm near. But do you know why I felt that no one should touch you? Why I commanded my own coven, which I trust more than anyone in the world, to stay away from you? I chucked Annabeth out of the room, you know. I couldn't bear the thought that someone else had touched what was rightfully mine."

Nico could feel himself slipping away, lost in the words escaping Percy's lips. His voice was pure delight to get lost in, his eyes calling him to just envelope himself in the darkness that was Percy Jackson. Somehow he knew the next words Percy uttered, even before he spoke. He somewhere had realised it, what he was to Percy.

"You are my mate, Nico. And I am yours." Said Percy, tilting Nico's head upwards so that they stared in each other's eyes. Nico had a hard time believing it, yet he knew it to be true. Percy's eyes were sincere. And Nico saw no reason not to trust him. He had after all, not yet killed him. So maybe this was real. Maybe they were mates. That certainly explained the whole my world spins around you looks that Percy was constantly giving him.

Or maybe, it was just an immaculately planned prank by Percy's coven. He hoped not.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked Percy, leaning in on Percy's palm. The sad smile was back on Percy's face, making the fangs look a lot less deadlier than they originally were.

"There no reason to think otherwise." Percy simply replied, brushing his lips with Nico's. Nico felt his lips curve in a smile as Percy sighed against his lips. There was a whoosh of air around them and Nico's neck snapped to the front as he realized he was no longer standing but sitting and in Percy's lap.

"How did you do that?" He asked Percy in awe.

Percy wiggled his eyebrows. "Thanks to my supernatural abilities."

Nico laughed remembering how he had said those exact words to Percy in the bathroom. But Percy's smile dimmed.

"You don't have to feel forced to do this, you know." He said, gesturing to them. "You still have an option until we've bonded. It doesn't have to be me who holds your hand."

Nico nodded. "It's just strange. Just a while ago I was trying to run away from you and now suddenly we're mates."

"I know it might be hard." Percy said, slipping his hand to Nico's waist. "But I am just as new to this as you are. I'm willing to give to time, as much of it as you want."

Nico pushed himself closer to Percy, resting his chin on Percy's shoulder. Bringing his hands on either sides of Percy's waist, he hugged him. "I'd like that. This just hasn't completely sunk in my mortal brain."

Percy chuckled. He hugged Nico tighter. "I want you to meet the coven." He said.

Nico stilled. He drew back from the hug to look at Percy. "Are you sure?"

"What? Trust me. I won't let anyone touch you."

"Do we have to tell them that we are, uh, mates?" Nico asked, averting his eyes. It was the first time Percy had seen him so bashful, but he was absolutely adoring that little redness on his cheeks.

"We don't have to. Even though they are downstairs, I'm sure they've all heard everything we've said. Supernatural hearing abilities." Percy said.

"Oh. Did they, also, you know, realise that we've kissed?" Asked Nico, fiddling with his shirt.

"Yes, of course they have. What else would they think you were moaning and whimpering for?"

"I didn't." Nico said, flustered. Then in a smaller voice, he asked. "Did I, really?"

"No, you didn't. I was just kidding." Percy said, hitting Nico lightly.

"Ouch, you prat. That hurt." Said Nico, only half serious.

"Shut up, you fragile mortal." Percy said with a smile. "Let's go, come on." He said, helping Nico up.

As they descended the stairs, Nico could see about seven people gathered downstairs. Talking in hushed tones. To the left of the stairs, directly below the room in which Nico had been lay Annabeth on top of a heap of broken glass. Looked like she had crushed the glass table she had fallen on.

Percy cleared his throat and directed his attention to the group assembled there. "A brief introduction. Everyone, this is Nico di Angelo." He gestured to Nico. "And now, Nico, allow me to introduce to you my beloved coven."

Someone snorted. "Ah, yes. That's Octavian." Percy said, pointing to a blond with brown eyes. He gestured to the girl next to him. She had tanned skin with chestnut hair and golden brown eyes. "This is Hazel. And that is Frank." He gestured to another boy, an Asian with an innocent childlike face. Honestly no one would have believed that he was a vampire.

Percy introduced everyone one by one. The blond boy from earlier was Jason. The boy standing next to him with the wild curly hair was Leo. Piper, a girl with mesmerizing eyes and dark hair came next. Next to her was another girl by the name Reyna. She appeared very strict yet something told Nico she'd never go against Percy.

"And you've already met Annabeth." Said Percy finally, motioning to the girl who was lying unconscious on the shards of glass.

"Uh, yes. I have." Nico said. He felt very terrified, if he was honest about it, to be in such close vicinity to so many Vampires.

"Honestly, Percy. I never thought you'd have a mortal mate." Said Octavian.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Percy. Everyone was looking at Octavian now, who was smirking.

"It's just that, as the coven leader, you should've found someone more, how should I put it now, long lasting. He'd die in a few decades. What are you gonna do then, find a new bloody mate?" He chuckled

"Octavian, behave." Said Reyna. She slapped Octavian on the back of his head.

Percy looked at Nico, who was drained of all colour. The thought that he'd age while Percy always remained young had not crossed his mind till now.

"Percy, are you sure?" Said Jason. Their eyes met and an unspoken communication took place, to which Percy growled.

"I dare you, Jason." He said with a growl.

Apparently to everyone else, it was clear what the little talk had been about because Leo instantly placed a hand on Nico, making him flinch. Percy's eyes turned wild. They darkened completely as he shielded Nico while backhanding Leo.

"Ouch, man, i was just testing." Said Leo.

"Don't touch him." Percy repeated. His voice was unnaturally calm as he apologized to Leo.

Leo smiled back. "It's alright, Perce. A question: is that your punishment for turning Frank?" He laughed. Frank rolled his eyes.

"I should go." Cams the small voice of Nico from behind Percy. Percy turned to look at Nico who was shaking slightly.

"Nico, I'm so sorry, I'm sure Leo didn't mean it that way." Said Percy, hurrying to his mate's side.

Nico just shook his head. "It's alright. I don't fit in with you either ways. Besides it's getting late. I should get going."

"Nico .." Percy said, trying one last time to get him to see reason in staying. "It's almost evening. Let me drop you." He reached for Nico's hand. But Nico pulled back as if he was burned.

"Percy, please." Nico said. "You told me you'd give me time. I need some air. Please." And then he was turning back and heading to the door.

Percy immediately turned to Hazel. "Make sure he gets back home safely. Take his things. His phone is near the bed somewhere." He whispered to her.

He inched closer to Leo as Hazel immediately rushed up the stairs. "As for you, Leo and even you, Octavian." He jabbed a finger in their directions. "Better be grateful that I haven't put you both in exile along with Annabeth."

Percy turned to everyone. Octavian sported a ' _I can’t believe you'_ look, while Leo looked genuinely apologetic.

"Nico is my mate, whether he chooses to be so or not. He will be respected no less in the coven just because he is a mortal." Percy said, his voice authorative and firm. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Don't worry Percy, I'll make sure they do." Said Reyna, pinning everyone with a deadly glare.

Percy nodded to everyone, before setting outside himself. He may not have shown it, but his emotions were in shambles. He sighed as he looked at the rising moon. He wished the day hadn't ended the way it had.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you guys didn't know, there's a petition for Disney/Dreamworks to make a Percy Jackson TV/movie series. Please go and support that, link in below. If you already have, well, that's just brilliant. I just feel that with Fantastic Beasts movie coming out, an actual spin-off of HP, while we haven't even got a half decent movie of PJO is really unfair. I LOVE HP, btw.  
> https://www.change.org/p/dreamworks-disney-to-make-a-percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-heroes-of-olympus-cartoon-tv-series-tvpercy?recruiter=631227362&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink


	3. Red

** Chapter 3: Red **

Nico threw his shoes as he collapsed on the bed, wincing at crashing sound that came when his one shoe collided with the mirror. He had had enough to worry about without adding a broken mirror to the list. Now, he was going to have to get up, clean the glass then pick his shoes up and place them back on the shoe rack as he should've originally.

He wished Annabeth had killed him. He didn't need to live, no one liked him, no one should miss him. No one. Not even Percy would, whose was supposed to be his mate. Good riddance, he'd think.

Who was he deluding with this self hate? No one. Because deep down, Nico did give a damn about what Percy thought about him. That one moment at his house had been almost tender, until Percy had come to the startling revelation that Nico was his mate.

Percy's coven was right in hating him; he didn't belong there. But it had really felt good to think that Percy cared.

Maybe Percy still would've liked him, had it not been for the mate thingy. Maybe Percy would've told him about his world, his coven and introduced him to his coven as his human friend. He would've liked that. He didn't want to be Percy's human mate.

It felt forced, on both sides. To have a vampire who hadn't known about a mere mortal's existence suddenly claiming a mundane human as his mate. It felt so wrong and unnatural. Despite how handsome and nocturnally beautiful Percy was, he was a vampire. And Nico, a human. Their species just didn't match as anything more than predator and prey. They could never be mates, he thought, not willingly, at least.

But, as much as he'd deny it, he was Percy's supposed mate. What did it entail, exactly? Would he be a source of blood for Percy till he ran out of it? Or would he be the human to lure other humans so Percy and his coven could feast on their blood? Or could it be that he had to provide Percy with _sexual_ _gratification_?

Would it be just too much to hope that Percy would need him, despite the whole mates drama? Could he mean to Percy more than a mate? An ally, a friend or maybe even a lover?

He didn't realize he had been crying, but judging from his laboured breathing and the tears dampening his shirt, he could've been crying since he broke that mirror.

His actions were sluggish as he got up from his bed and put his shoes back on the rack. Then he walked over to the broken mirror, finding a number of _Nicos_ staring back at him with puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. He sniffled once and wiped his nose on the hem of his shirt as he began to collect the pieces one by one.

Normally, if Nico was doing something stupid like collecting glass shards with bare hands, his roommate, Derek, would knock some sense into him. However, Derek's parents had divorced, resulting in a transfer of schools for Derek and ending up with no roommate for Nico since the beginning of the year.

Nico winced as the glass grazed his palm, a thin cut appearing, with red emerging from within. But it didn't hurt; nothing hurt as much as Annabeth's fangs had. Putting away the bigger shards of the mirror in the trash, he grabbed the sweeper, cleaning away the smaller shards from the floor with a swipe.

There was a knock on the door. Nico didn't hear it, almost. But even when his brain, very slowly, registered that there was someone at the door, the steps he took there were sluggish. It was as if his entire body was having a delayed responsiveness.

He expected the dorm-keeper. He did not expect Hazel.

She had a small smile on her face and when she noticed how Nico had paled instantly, she blurted out a jumbled, "Oh, Hey! I just wanted to talk."

Nico gave a mirthless laugh. "Look, I already know how much you guys love me. I promise, I'll stay away from Percy. There, happy?"

Hazel's eyes softened. "Nico, please, don't get us wrong. We don't hate you." She looked both sides, before asking, "Can I come in?"

Oh well, if he was going to die, he'd prefer it if he was on a bed while he was sucked dry, rather than being on the doorstep of his own dorm room. He moved aside and let her in.

Hazel's eyes were focused on something out of his vision. "Wrap that please, with a band aid or something." She said, still not looking at Nico, vaguely pointing at the faint scar on Nico's palm.

A soft oh escaped his lips and he looked from drawer to drawer, searching for Band-Aids. He had them somewhere. Ah ha. Slowly wrapping two crisscrossed Band-Aids, he flexed his hand and glanced at Hazel who was still staring elsewhere.

"Done." He said, sitting on his bed on the end far from the one in which Hazel sat herself.

Hazel looked at Nico, eyes furrowing at the distance between them. "Nico, we don't hate you. None of us do." She said again, gauging his reaction.

"Yes, I felt very graciously welcomed back there." He said, trying not to snort.

"Nico, you have to understand, we never talk with humans. We barely interact with your kind, except to, you know, feed." Hazel said, turning so that she was staring directly at Nico. Nico, fo his part, stared at the empty space on the wall, where just a few moments ago, was an unbroken mirror.

"Nico, it is very unusual to have a human mate. Even as old as Percy is, he himself has encountered only two cases where a vampire was mated to a human. So, at first we all thought it was a joke. And we are sorry, all of us, for making you feel like you didn't belong."

Nico shook his head. "I don't belong with your coven. I belong with my kind. With humans."

" I wish that were true, and many of us may wish that you never were Percy's mate. But, the reality is that, you and Percy belong. As an extension, you belong with the coven." Hazel's expression turned blank. " I admit none of us are excited to have a human in our midst constantly. But we've got no choice. This is fate."

"Is that your way of convincing me to be a consenting part of your coven which would love to have me for breakfast?"

Hazel tensed. "Nico, we are not all evil. We have souls, too. The myths would have you thinking that we are soulless creatures of the night. But we do have souls, which are just trapped between times. Annabeth might have been wrong in wanting to drink from you, but truth be told, you can't blame her. But we don't want to kill you."

Nico gave Hazel a look. "Just because I'm a human, doesn't mean I have the word stupid carved on my forehead! You can't convince me into being Percy's mate! I won't be a toy of some vampire just so that he could suck me dry!"

But Hazel had already risen to her feet and her eyes were shining with a rage. Nico dropped down his gaze. "Is that how you think a mate bond works? So that he could lure you to suck your blood?"

Honestly, when he had first seen Hazel, she seemed every bit of a harmless teenager, much less a vampire. Now, she looked like she could take over the Mafia on her own in the span of mere seconds. Nico was seriously scared.

"Do you even have any inkling how much it must have hurt Percy when you just ran away like that?" She fumed. "I understand that the others in the coven were nearly hostile to you, but Percy has been nothing but kind to you the entire time. He was just angry at Octavian and Annabeth, for what they did and said that he nearly banished them for eternity. He did exile Annabeth for two week actually. Just because she drank from you. Do you know how hard it is to not just leap across the room right now to drink from you? But I don't dare make a move on you, because Percy told me specifically to make sure you came home safe. He trusted me, and believe me when I say that Percy's trust is something you never want to lose. He was a wreck when you fainted and he was on the verge of killing someone when you left without even explaining your reasons." She paused.

If she had been mortal, she'd have breathed. Then she continued in a calmer voice. "Percy cares about you, Nico. And it isn't only because of the bond. He was very protective of you since the moment you two met. In all my years of being a vampire, not one person, human or vampire, had captured his attention so wholly. If he wanted to just drink from you, why would he have stopped the first time he tasted you? I know it is very hard for you to accept the reality in this situation, but you are his mate and it won't change until either of you die."

Nico realised he was shaking, had been for who knows how long. Hazel was very careful as she placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico didn't stop shaking. Slowly, she kneeled down to Nico's level and hugged him lightly. She didn't think Nico would, but his arms wound tightly around her waist as he laid his head on her shoulder.

"There is no way out from here, is there?" He asked with a small voice.

"Nico, you have a mate who cares for you and would kill if anyone even breathed wrongly your way. He can love you more than anyone ever can, Nico. You could love him more than anything else. All you both need is time to work out your differences. It is a very delicate case, I admit, and I really wish you weren't forced into this. But, Nico, you can't change fate. Give it some thought Nico. Do you really want a way out from this?"

Nico couldn't make out whether what Hazel was saying was because she really felt that way or because she had to somehow convince him to give Percy a chance. Either ways, Nico knew he had to give Percy a chance to explain himself, the whole _mates_ affair and tell him what Nico had felt when he took off from Percy's house earlier that night.

"What do you think I should do?" He mumbled in Hazel's neck. She smelt like the Earth and everything that came with being dead. He wondered briefly if he could bite Hazel. He wondered if she'd bleed.

Hazel drew back from their embrace, looking straight in Nico's eyes. Her eyes glittered like molten gold, even in the dim light. "Just think about this. For your sake. For Percy's." She said, rubbing Nico's back. "If you feel like it, you can join us at recess tomorrow. We'll all love it if you would, but it is ultimately your choice. Also it would give Octavian a chance to apologize."

Nico looked down for a moment, before looking back up at Hazel. "I'll think about it."

Hazel smiled at him and placed a cold kiss on his forehead.

"Thanks, Nico. See you in school, tomorrow."

Nico gave her a small smile in return. And in the blink of an eye, she was gone, the only evidence of her being there was the gentle breeze as the door of the dorm room snapped shut softly behind her.

Nico was alone again. But now he had more to think than ever.

 _Just think about this_.

Hazel's words loomed in the air even after she'd been long gone.

Percy. He was the sole reason why Nico was having this midlife crisis in his late teenage.

Ever since he had first seen Percy, he had had his suspicions. Day after day, Nico'd spend time just watching Percy from afar, even before he had known completely that he was a vampire. There was something alluring about Percy, his careful stance, his emotionless eyes, his sassy smirk. Even though he had never witnessed Percy talk before, except for answering in classes, Nico had always assumed that Percy would have a lovely voice, one that made people reminisce it.

He had never seen him eat, sometimes Percy refrained from even entering the cafeteria. He had never seen him run in gym class, never seen him with someone who wasn't a teacher, never seen him spend time with any friends.

It had all clicked in place slowly. The reason why Percy was always alone.  He was a creature of the dark. A vampire.

What had shocked Nico was, he didn't find himself behind astonished at that realization. The knowledge that Percy was something between supernatural and divine had wasn't exactly new. One look at him, and anyone would see that.

But, Nico had always kept his distance. Because as much as _God-like_ Percy would seem, it didn't erase the fact that he could go in a rage any moment and destroy everything near.

And he had no choice to be near Percy. He already had had one encounter with the supernatural world when he was ten. He didn't wish for a repeat experience.

What he had wished for, was to have Percy never notice him. It was a plan that worked foolproof, until that day when he carelessly had ran into Percy in the washroom.

The initial panic, followed by the accelerated heartbeats had soon given way to curiosity and untamable excitement as Percy had pinned him.

It wasn't very hard to imagine himself being with Percy, sharing secret smiles with him, taking a stroll in the moonlight. Percy was smart, handsome and in a few rare moments, Nico thought that Percy could actually care about him.

_It doesn't have to be me who holds your hand._

It wasn't as if he was exactly crushing on someone else, whom he'd like to date, if Percy permitted. But it felt nice to know that Percy valued his independence, even though they were to be bonded till Nico lived.

But did he trust Percy enough to actually bond with him, whatever the Hades that even was? Could he really stand being near not only Percy but the other supernatural creatures of the dark after what had happened to Bianca?

He felt his palms grow moist with sweat as he tried to repress the memories of the day when everything had started going wrong.

What happened to Bianca wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but blame himself for that.

 _'Stop it, Nico. Don't make it to be something it is not.'_ He heard his own mind say.

He had time. Percy told him so. Hazel had said to think about it. He would. Tomorrow.

Right now he needed sleep and a hug from his blanket.

* * *

 

He couldn't believe it. He had expected Percy to flank his side since the moment he stepped inside the school. But Percy was nowhere to be seen.

He had given Nico the space he had asked for. But Nico had not yet decided whether he was going to ignore what had happened yesterday or acknowledge that he was no longer going to need to hide his scent.

He didn't know if one was better than the other.

And then there was Percy. And the thing Hazel had told him.

Could Percy really love him, the real him, who wasn't just what he seemed? Could he handle who Nico was, beneath the facade of the teenage schoolboy? Would Percy have even looked at him, had it not been for his blood? His scent?

He had never understood things like mates or bonds for life. It seemed like something which required too much effort, to hold on even when it got strained, just because it was something you had promised yourself and partner in the honeymoon period of your relationship. Never letting go. Loving only one person for their entire life.

Fated for someone. Fated for loving someone for their entire existence. Could it be really that black and white? Loving someone so dearly that no one else's love tempted them, was it really true or just a fable?

While these thoughts jumbled Nico's head, an arm pulled him back just as he was about to trip from the stair below him due to his inattentiveness.

Nico looked behind him. Annabeth was holding his arm with her two fingers, her lips pressed in a line as she avoided looking at Nico.

"I wanted to apologize." She said all of a sudden, her teeth glinting momentarily, reminding Nico of the monster beneath that beautiful face "I'm still new to this, and as the coven might have told you, I'm not exactly accustomed to suppressing my hunger."

She was still avoiding his eyes as she let go of his arm and stepped back.

Nico nodded. "I won't forget it, Annabeth, it was very painful to endure." He said, overcome with sudden urge to comfort her. "But I won't hold it against you."

Annabeth looked at him for the first time since their little meeting yesterday. She looked fine, except for a glint in her eyes that could have been mistaken for regret had she been human. She gave him a tentative pat in his shoulder.

Nico winced; maybe by vampire standards it was a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but by human standards, it felt like someone knocked on his shoulder with a hammer. Still, he managed a half-smile.

Annabeth nodded once, before turning on her heel deftly, before remembering something and turning back just as deftly.

"Oh, and we, the coven, would appreciate if you joined us for the recess."

When recess came along, Nico watched as Hazel and Frank sat idly in the cafeteria at the table nearest to the door. A red head girl with bright green eyes sat with them, fiddling with the sandwich on her plate as Hazel seemed to chat with her.

Frank noticed him and sent him a wave, his hand moving awkwardly as if he hadn't used that form of arm movement for greeting someone in years. Nico waved in return, before standing at the queue to get food.

By the time he returned  the table with a slice of pizza and orange juice, Percy, Reyna, Piper, Octavian were sitting with Hazel and Frank.

The girl with the wild red hair was still there. Maybe she was a vampire who wasn't with the coven yesterday. Maybe she wasn't in Percy's coven at all. It shouldn't bother Nico as much as it did.

As he sat down across Hazel and beside Percy, the red head looked up from the sketchbook her lap. Nico hadn't noticed it before, but now when he looked closely, he could see her shirt was artistically smudged with what smelled like acrylic paints. She even had blue and green paint on the tips on her hair. Her eyes seemed more vibrant from so less distance separating them, but they seemed wizened beyond her age as if she'd been enlightened by Buddha himself.

She stared at him silently, biting her sandwich and sipping her juice.

This sent Nico's head spinning; a vampire would never eat mortal food, it wasn't appetizing to them. But here she was, the redhead, relishing her sandwich without even wincing at its bland taste. He was seeing things.

"You can eat food." Nico said, eyes travelling from Percy to Hazel and back to the redhead.

Octavian sniggered. "Well, little Nico, the primary purpose of making food is to eat it."

Piper hit the back of his head with a folded textbook. "Bad dog, Octavian."

But the redhead hadn't answered; rather she looked at the plate in front of Nico and questioned him. "Why do you have food, human food, on your plate?"

Nico snorted, "I think it has to do something with me being human."

Redhead gave him a sneer, "Precisely why I am eating human food, mortal."

Nico looked at Percy, who looked torn between laughing and growing at Redhead. He looked at Nico instead, smiling apologetically.

"It seems that recently I've been apologising on the behalf of my clan members often." He gave a half glare to Redhead and smiled back at Nico. "Sorry for that Nico, Red didn't mean it."

"Red? Your name's red?" Nico said, incredulous. "You're named after your hair colour?"

Red frowned. "It's not Red, you illiterate moron, it's R.E.D. - Rachel Elizabeth Dare. RED."

"And you're not a vampire?"

"Obviously."

"Then how are you in Percy's coven?"

Rachel opened her mouth, obviously to sass Nico, but Percy interjected.

"Red is possessed, not by an evil spirit or something, but by the Oracle." Percy explained.

"Or so she claims." Octavian said, narrowing his eyes at Rachel.

"You're just jealous, you incompetent bastard." Rachel said, eating the last of her sandwich.

"Anyway," Percy continued, idly ducking a few stray peas from Octavian as he tried to aim for Rachel. "Rachel is completely human, Nico. And she's a part of the coven."

"How do you even have non-vampires in your coven?" Nico asked bluntly. "Aren't you scared they'd tell anyone?"

Frank and Piper cast a few sideway glances to see if someone was in hearing range.

"Really, Nico, do you think people are going to believe if someone found out that these people are vampires? Moreover, what will I be? A half mad school-girl possessed by an Oracle? I'd be buying a one way ticket to the nearest mental ward." Said Rachel, hitting Octavian between the eyes with her empty juice box.

Percy fingers glided over Nico's and just like that, Nico was suddenly warm. He blinked twice, before looking at Percy who was acting as if his hand wasn't playing handsie with him.

"Yeah, that does make sense." He said absently to Rachel.

"Besides, we have a lot more weird people in the coven." Said Hazel, pointing to herself and Frank. "I'm a witch, well witch turned vampire and Frank here is a shape shifter."

"And I'm the bad boy supreme!" Exclaimed Leo as he squeezed between Hazel and Frank. A few seconds later, Jason came sauntering way too fast to be considered normal human speed, but none of the other students noticed.

Jason slid in beside Octavian.

"Welcome, dear love birds. Thank you for joining us today." Said Reyna, rolling her eyes.

Leo frowned. "Don't call us that!" He snapped, wiggling his finger at Reyna. "Oh hey, Nico. Fancy seeing you here. I thought you'd have run away by now."

Frank and Hazel smacked him on the head. Jason smiled apologetically at Nico, trying his best to not reveal his fangs.

Nico just ate his remaining pizza slice in silence. Percy's hand still covered his left as the coven exchanged low murmurs about something too quiet for Nico to understand. But Nico was unbothered by it.

These people were weirdos and he had no choice but to get used to it.

* * *

 

By the time Nico had finished his last class, the weather had turned an unusual grey. It wasn't as if Nico worried about being caught in the middle of a storm; he lived in the school dorms, after all.

But what caught his attention was Percy standing in front of a bright red Lamborghini, reclining against the hood of the car.

Nico considered going back to the class and hiding till Percy was gone.

Uh oh, too late. Percy had noticed him. He practically beamed when he saw Nico, and Nico had to admit it felt good to make someone like Percy smile by just seeing him.

"Hey, Nico." Percy called, seeming anxious as he walked over.

"Hey."

"I was, uh, we were, my coven and I, we were wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner. And a movie tonight, maybe?"

Ideally, Nico should have said~ "That's very nice of you, but I'll have to decline. I have a lot of homework." Which was entirely true.

Instead Nico said, "You don't eat mortal food."

Percy chuckled. "I was trying to be civil and respect your mortal routine." He stepped closer. "Maybe I'm having something tonight." He stepped closer so he could whisper in Nico's ear. His fingers brushed against the nape of Nico's neck. "Maybe I have you on my menu, Nico." He murmured slowly, enunciating his name.

Nico shivered. He tried to push Percy away, but the vampire didn't even budge. Instead he was shaking. With suppressed laughter.

"I was joking, Nico. Your reaction was so funny." Percy said, running a hand through his hair. His eyes had crinkles when he smiled too hard.

"Idiot." Nico fumed. "Don't joke about these things!"

Percy's hand cupped Nico's cheeks. They warmed under his cold touch. Colour blossomed on Nico's cheeks, travelling all the way down to his neck. His lips looked redder, too. As if in a haze, Percy leaned down till their lips were a hair's breadth away.

Nico closed his eyes, barely registering the darkened eyes. His lips parted on their own accord as his heart hammered inside his chest.

_It doesn't have to be me who holds your hand._

His own words echoed in his mind. Percy stepped back, his hands falling from Nico's face as he distanced himself.

He had made a promise to Nico. To give him space. He was not going to back down because of a weak moment of lust.

Nico blinked his eyes open, averting them from Percy's as he blinked to clear his head. For a moment, it felt like he was somewhere between life and death, just existing with Percy beside him.

"I want pizza." Nico muttered. He didn’t want to pay much attention to the brewing sexual tension.

Percy smiled. "Anything you want." He held out his hand.

Nico took a deep breath, willing his still rapidly beating heart to slow down. He took Percy's hand in his, entwining their fingers.

"I'll need to be back by nine. That's the curfew for the dorms." Nico said, climbing into the car.

"I'll drop you back myself." Percy smiled, turning the key into ignition.

Nico hoped it wouldn't be like the day before. These weirdos needed human interaction in their life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not specifying which Monday.
> 
> Kudos and comments are most appreciated.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr,  
> [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)


	4. Dreams

** Chapter 4: Dreams **

“Percy!” Nico wailed as Piper pinned him down. “Make them stop.”

There were tears in his eyes. Percy was sitting on the couch, watching the ordeal with a grin. He didn’t reply.

Hazel’s fingers poked his sides as he tried to wriggle. Laughter bubbled out of him as he fought back tears. Piper restrained his hands even more, so now Nico could only move his legs.

“Ssstop!” He gave a desperate whine. “Please, Hazel. It tickles so much.”

Hazel stopped at once, but not before smirking at him and saying, “Well, that is the primary point of tickling someone.”

“Surrender, Nico.” Said Piper, laughing at Nico’s poor attempts to release his hands.

“Fine, fine.” Nico said, letting out little _oomphs_ and _oofs_ as he relaxed his previously restrained muscles. His stomach ached from laughing, and his cheeks had tear streaks. Piper raised an eyebrow. Nico lifted his hands in surrender. “Okay, you win. It does look good on me. I accept it, okay.”

Just then Jason burst into the room in inhuman speed with Octavian in tow. They were both wearing tracksuits, seemingly having gone for a jog. There was no sweat on their faces and they looked as perfect as they had been before the jog.

Of course, seeing as they were vampires, there was absolutely no reason for them to sweat or even feel the least bit tired.

“I heard wailing.” Octavian said, plopping down beside Percy. He looked at the two girls and Nico for an answer. But then he looked at Nico and stopped and stared.

It looked really creepy to Nico. The more Octavian stared at him with those dead eyes, the more Nico started viewing him as a marble statue in a tracksuit.

“It suits you. The make-up, I mean.  Makes you look less like a corpse.” Octavian said.

“Hey!” Nico said, offended.

Piper nodded beside him. “Really, Nico. You are too pale. I mean, not ever the Elders have that pale skin.”

“Who the heck are even Elders?” Nico said. His lip was slightly pushed in a pout.

Percy pursued his lips and shook his head at Nico. “You don’t just curse at the Elders.”

Hazel put an arm around Nico, as she casually leaned across Nico and applied eye-shadow to Piper with her other hand. “It’s like a silent oath between us vampires to never disobey or go against the Elders.” She paused, checking whether the colour was evenly applied to Piper’s eye lids before continuing. “They are what you may call, Vampiric deities.”

Nico frowned. “So they were some mythological vampires who made miracles happen for younger vampires?”

Percy shook his head. “No, they are like vampire police.” He got up and walked over to where Hazel sat beside Nico. He carefully hefted Hazel’s arm off Nico’s shoulders. He squeezed in between them. “Except, they have existed since the beginning of times. Yes, they still exist.”

Nico hummed, bringing a hand to rub at his eyes.

“No!” screeched Piper “You’ll mess it up.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not as if I’m going to keep it for the entire day.” Nico said, pouting.  Beside him, Percy avoided his gaze as his pout deepened. “I don’t think it even suits me.” Despite that, Nico didn’t clean up his face.

“So, where are the others?” Nico questioned, gazing at the five vampires in the room. Well, four, as Jason had disappeared in the midst of their conversation.

“Frank and Annabeth are out.” Percy said. “Rachel is in Annabeth’s room, asleep. Reyna is patrolling.”

“Jason and Leo?” Nico questioned.

Hazel snickered. “Haven’t you guessed?” she said, whispering in a very low voice. “They’re getting nasty.”

Nico frowned. “Getting nasty? What does that even- _oh_ ” he said, as Piper made a crude hand gesture, making Nico realize what they were actually doing. A faint pink blush rose on his cheeks.

“Can’t they even be quiet?” Piper said, her mouth twisting into a disgusted expression. She dramatically placed her hands on Nico’s ears. “How mean, corrupting my little mortal.”

Nico batted her hands away. “I can’t even here anything.”

Octavian made a gagging noise. “I need to go out or I might puke.  If they break that wall one more time, I’m going to make them build three in its place.”

A low thud was heard from somewhere upstairs. All the four vampires groaned.

“They broke the bed.” Percy explained. “I’m going to kill them. It matched the room decor so perfectly. I can’t believe they broke it.” He muttered.

Nico took a deep breath. He was suddenly being bombarded with too much information about Leo and Jason’s love lives. He exhaled shakily.

Piper and Percy shared a quick glance.

“I’ll wake Rachel up.” She simply said. “You guys can go on, we’ll join you.” She disappeared upstairs.

“Where are we going?” Nico asked. Hazel was putting aside her mascara. Octavian dusted off his pants.

Percy got up, too fast for Nico to realize that he had even stood up, till Percy asked him, “Away from broken beds. At the camp. You coming?”

Nico just nodded. He had zero clue what camp meant. But he wouldn’t pass a chance of escaping the gay love making that was evidently going on in the upstairs rooms.

* * *

 

They took Hazel’s car to the camp, because apparently, Octavian and Percy had flashier cars. They had to take a vehicle which wouldn’t draw much attention.

As Hazel drove, Octavian made pointless commentary on the radio hosts accents. Nico sat in the seat beside Hazel, gazing at the pink sky as the sun started setting.

From the mirror, Nico could see Percy clearly. He sat behind the driver’s seat, diagonally to Nico. He was as still as a rock, his eyes strangely glinting in the low lit car. His skin seemed cold even from a distance. Someone could’ve mistaken Percy for an ice sculpture.

Nico looked away. He had been rudely staring at Percy for pretty long. But even as his brain protested, his eyes flitted over to Percy’s form in the mirror. This time, almost as if he felt Nico’s stare on him, Percy looked at Nico in the mirror, captivating him with the varying shades in his eyes.

Nico jerked forward suddenly. His head hit the seat hard and he winced.

According to Octavian’s version of the story of how Nico had gotten a minor head injury,  Nico hadn’t registered the slowing down of the car and had been apparently too busy eye-fucking Percy through the mirror to actually realize that the car was stopping till Hazel hit the brakes.

_How uncouth._

Octavian laughed. “Crazy mortal. Who even uses that word?”

Percy rolled his eyes, supposedly unbothered by Octavian’s foul recounting of the brief tale, as he pulled Nico to what the vampires called camp.

“The camp.” Percy said, looking at Nico. His hands were stretched outward as he turned into a temporary tourist guide. “No one comes here. Can you see those cabins?” He pointed in the distance where a dozen or so cabins were. They looked uninhabited, yet they didn’t look spooky in any way. If anything, they looked as if someone had built them as tourist homes. Percy continued, “We built those, about a fifty years ago. Since then, they have been only painted once.”

“The get-away vampire destination? Cool.” Nico grinned. He turned 180 degrees. “Are those fields?” He jogged towards where wild bushes grew with plump pink strawberries.

“Strawberries.” Percy said. “Jason loves these, even though we can’t actually taste them anymore.”

Nico plucked a ripe one. He looked at Percy before popping the fruit in his mouth. Instantly, the juices exploded in his mouth as he chewed. The flavour was so wonderful, that Nico plucked another and bit it into half.

“They’re really good. So juicy!” Nico said. A drop of the juice escaped past Nico’s lips and trailed from his chin to his throat. Percy’s fingers brushed the drop away. Nico shivered from the unanticipated touch. Percy’s cool fingers tilted his chin up.

Percy leaned forwards. Percy mumbled against his skin. “I may have an inkling why Jason grows boxes of these for Leo.” Percy’s tongue traced upwards the trail the drop had left, all the way to Nico’s lips, which were shiny with strawberry juice. Nico leaned towards Percy as his tongue drew back from the corner of Nico’s lips.

Nico’s hands were linked with Percy’s, his warm fingers entwined with cold ones. Percy pulled him close, their chests touching. Percy’s lips brushed his, once, twice, before they captured his lips in a soft kiss.

“Ah!!!” came a loud shriek from not far away.

Nico pulled away, startled by the scream. In the distance, he saw Rachel screaming as she was climbing off Piper’s back as they emerged. In doing so, he didn’t pay attention to the bushes in which he was standing. His legs tangled in the bushes and he lost his balance. Luckily, the saviour of the night, Percy Jackson was right there, and he gripped Nico’s arm, pulling him upright again.

Percy’s dark eyes locked with his, pinning him with his smouldering gaze, rendering Nico speechless. Percy, however, was entranced by the way Nico’s mouth was agape, his eyes wide and his hands holding onto Percy’s arms.

Percy leaned forward, his eyes trained on Nico’s lips. Nico closed his eyes. His tongue moistened his lips. Nico waited, for the gently pressure of Percy’s lips on his own. Instead-

 _Thwack_.

Nico opened his eyes in a jiffy, to see Percy holding his forehead with an irritated look.

“Come on, lovebirds, we don’t want any broken beds here.” Came Octavian’s voice.

Percy glared at him before turning back to Nico and gently stroking his cheeks. “There’s something else you’d like.” He placed a lingering kiss o Nico’s cheek, before pulling him to the other side of the camp.

Rachel was already there by the time Percy and Nico slowly trudged up to the beach. Octavian was throwing sand at Hazel who was lying down quietly on the sand. Rachel and Piper were knee deep within the sea water. Percy sat down at the shoreline. Nico sat down beside him.

“So who actually owns this place?” Nico questioned, leaning back.

“I do.” Percy said. Then he laughed. “Actually, it belonged to my grandfather in the 60s, Percy Jackson the first. After his untimely death it was passed down to my father, Percy Jackson the Second. Then it was passed down to me, Percy Jackson the third.”

Nico narrowed his eyes. “You made that up just now, didn’t you?”

Percy chuckled. “Of course not, the story is entirely true. It was passed down from Percy Jackson the First, to the Second and then to the Third. Except, my grandfather, father and I happen to be the same person. Me.”

Nico laughed. “No one is going to believe this shady background story.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “I am not going to sprout off my non-existent family history to random mortals, darling.” He flicked sand at Nico. “I make exceptions just for you.”

“Percy that was so cheesy. Eww. Does Nicholas Sparks take inspiration from you?” yelled Piper.

Percy groaned. “Privacy guys. Don’t eavesdrop on my pitiful attempts to woo my man.”

Nico hid his face in his hands. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. “Percy.” Said Nico, his voice muffled by his hands. “Shut up.”

* * *

 

“Pizza.” Rachel said. She pointed at Nico. “He’s Italian, he loves Pizza.”

Nico laughed. “That is only half the truth. I am part-Italian. And I love Mc Donald’s more.”

Percy made a face. “Cooked food. Ew.”

“Excuse me, grandpa. Everyone, well _almost_ everyone, loves cooked food.” Rachel said, snorting when the rest vampires made gagging noises.

Hazel sighed. “Fine. Order Pizza. But I dare you, no tomatoes on them.” She drove them to the pizzeria nearest to the coven’s house.

Nico gave her a confused look. “Hazel hates the smell of tomatoes when they are cooked.” Percy explained.

“Oh.”

“By the way, we also need to buy a new bed. You know, for Jason and Leo.” Octavian said. “I will stake them if they use mine for a lack of theirs.”

Octavian’s voice was oddly calm, as if staking his vampire mates was just some passing thought he had. Nico shivered at the glint in his eyes.

“I’ll have my usual Hawaiian pizza with extra cheese.” Rachel said. “What about you, Nico?”

“A margarita.” He said.

Beside Nico, Percy sighed, dreamily fanning his face. “A man after my own heart.”

Piper slapped him on the face. Octavian doused Percy in a bottle of water.

“Stop being gross, idiot.” They both said. Nico stifled a laugh. Percy winked at him.

When they came back to the coven’s house, night had fallen. From the door of the house, Nico could see nothing ahead but darkness.

Rachel brought in two boxes of pizza, along with some ice cream. Strawberry flavoured for her and chocolate for Nico. Usually, Nico had no problem with strawberry. But, for that particular day he was done with the flavour.

He was biting the second slice of his Pizza when Frank came in the house, followed by Annabeth.

They both stood in the living room, for a second before dashing to Percy’s room. Piper and Jason exchanged uneasy glances.

“Should we join them?” Piper asked, nodding in the direction of Percy’s room. Jason shook his head somewhat hesitantly.

By the time Nico had reached the fourth slice of his pizza, the tension between the vampires could be seen rising at an alarming rate. Piper was turning her head every minute to look upstairs, while Jason kept silently pleading her to stay put. Hazel stared in the distance, while Octavian and Leo looked indifferent.

Rachel, who had, with an amazing speed, finished her pizza already, noted Nico’s confusion.  “Frank and Annabeth must’ve found something they wanted to share with Percy. It happens once in a while. Some vampire crosses our territory and begins a man hunt.” She said.

Nico didn’t feel elated in the slightest. Just then, Reyna came rushing inside. She didn’t even stop like Annabeth and Frank had before she disappeared in Percy’s room. She was soaked from the bottom to the top. She left a trail of water as she ran, wetting the floor.

The door of Percy’s room banged shut again.

Rachel got up. “I’m getting Ice-cream.” She disappeared in the kitchen.

The door of Percy’s room opened with a bang. It had almost come off its hinges. He looked down at the five remaining vampires. “Upstairs. Now!” he said. He looked as if someone had strangled his cat.

All the five vampires exchanged looks of curiosity and doubt, but hey rushed up.

Nico looked at Percy. “Should I come, too?” he asked

Percy shook his head. “No. Stay there. But don’t leave the house. Don’t let Rachel leave, either.” With that he went inside the room and closed the door behind him.

It took a long while before the vampires came out of Percy’s room. Almost immediately Annabeth and Reyna, followed by Jason and Octavian ran out of the house and into the darkness.

Percy came out of his room, slowly descending the steps, too slow even for humans. He stopped at the last step. “Rachel!” he called out.

“She’s in the bathroom.” Nico said. Percy came and sat down next to him. He leaned forward, resting his face in his hands.

“Stay here tonight.” Percy said. His tone was icy. He didn’t look at Nico.

Astonished, Nico let out a nervous chuckle. “I don’t think it would be right.”

“Why not?”

Nico swallowed. He wasn’t used to Percy being like this to him. Cold. Distant. “The dorm keeper will report me. I should’ve notified him if I was going to not return for the night.” He said. Percy’s expression didn’t change. “Also, I have homework. Gods, I had almost forgotten-”

“I’ll send Piper and Hazel to bring your books. Also some night clothes.” Without waiting for Nico’s reaction, he continued. “Is there anything else you’d like them to bring?”

“Percy, I have school tomorrow and-”

“Clothes for school then. Anything else? Any goldfish you have to feed?”

Nico frowned. “You can’t make me stay here, Percy.” He snapped, “I’m your bloody mate, not your slave.”

Percy turned to look at him, his eyes dark with anger. Unconcealed rage showed on his face. “A vampire has come back to New York. This coven is the biggest threat to him if he wants to take over the city.”

“But what does it have anything to do with me?”

“The last time we saw each other, he swore to make me pay. And there is a possibility that he knows that you are my mate.”

“Percy, I’m not a child, I’ll take care of myself. Besides, it’s only a possibility that he knows of me. It may be a coincidence that he has just decided to come back to New York now.” Nico tried to reason.

Percy gripped his arms, the grip making Nico wince. Percy’s words were cold, but his voice hinted at the vulnerable state he was in. “I’m not saying that you are weak, Nico. But you are no match for a vampire.” He paused, his expression softening. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Nico. The first thing I’ll always want is for you to be unharmed. And right now, the safest you can be, is by being near the coven.” Percy’s lips touched his forehead. “Please don’t argue with me on this, Nico. I just want you safe.”

* * *

 

Nico looked at himself in the mirror in Percy’s room. He thought the vampires didn’t have reflections. Apparently he was wrong.

He had almost forgotten about the make-up Piper and Hazel had earlier put on him. It wasn’t much but it was enough to make Nico feel as if he was looking at a different person.

With dark black eyeliner and pale pink eye shadow, the dark brown colour of his eyes mellowed into a softer hue.  He could almost believe he was looking in his sister’s eyes. Bianca’s eyes were exactly like this, a lighter shade of his eyes.

He remembered her eyes and her smile more than anything. They had been his rock until one day, when they simply ceased to be that. He still couldn’t accept that she had abandoned him like that.

Someone cleared their throat behind him. He could see him in the mirror.

Percy stood behind him. In his arm was a bag with Nico’s books and clothes. He cleared his throat again. “I didn’t tell you before, but, the make-up looks good on you.” He smiled warmly.

Nico smiled in return, his previous thoughts easily forgotten as Percy handed him the bag. He looked inside the bag, seeing his books and clothes. Too many clothes. Maybe Piper and Hazel thought it would be best if Nico decided what he wanted to wear the next day.

But then Nico’s posture slumped as he realised one thing. He still had homework.  Percy thought Nico was losing consciousness, because he brought both hands to steady Nico.

“Hey, alright there?” Percy asked him.

Nico looked flushed. “I’m fine. It’s just, ugh, I still have homework left.” He made a face.

Percy looked thoughtful for a moment. “If you are too tired, I can do it for you.”

Nico laughed. “Thanks Percy. But, I’ll do it.” He drew closer to Percy. “You’d help me, though, wouldn’t you?”

Percy beamed. “Yeah. I mean, not to brag, but I have been to school more times than you have probably taken a bath, so it’d be just like asking a Wikipedia page to help you.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Einstein.” He held out three fingers. “Choose one.”

Percy held the middle one.

Nico groaned. “First up, Calculus.”

* * *

 

Nico had just finished his Spanish homework and had gone in the bathroom to change, when a knock sounded on his door.

“Percy?” It was Rachel.

Percy opened the door. “Hey. I thought you’d gone to bed.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Sleep won’t come.  Not when I’ve been having dreams about him.” She tilted her head in the direction of the bathroom.

“What dreams? Is Nico in any danger?” Percy asked.

Rachel hushed him and took him to Annabeth’s room. “Percy,” Rachel began, rolling a strand of red hair in her fingers, “I don’t think we should trust Nico.”

Percy blanched. “Rachel, he’s my-”

Rachel cut him short. “Percy, hear me out. Today, after school, I fell asleep in Annabeth’s room. Before I went upstairs to sleep, Piper and Hazel were applying make up to Nico. I only caught a glimpse of him, but I remembered his eyes.”

Percy hummed, entirely focused on Rachel.

“When I fell asleep, Nico was there in my dreams. His eyes were the same as they were right before I fell asleep. He had long dark brown hair and he carried a dagger with him. He looked older. He looked like he was lighting up some firewood. He wore a silver chain with a moon as the pendant.”

“Why would Nico have long hair and run amok in the middle of nowhere with a dagger? It makes no sense.” Percy muttered.

Rachel continued, “That’s not all. He was with the wolves.”

Percy couldn’t believe his ears. “It can’t be him.” He said aloud. “Nico wouldn’t betray us and join those wolves. He may not have warmed up to us yet, but he’d never do that. I’ve sensed his soul, he is far too pure. ”

Hazel shook her head. “Percy, I had another dream of Nico. A few days ago, when I hadn’t even met Nico, I saw him in my dreams. Obviously I didn’t know who he was then, but I remember the dream for a few odd things. Nico was standing in some forest. There were at least a dozen other vampires surrounding him.”

“Were they hurting him? Who were they?” Percy questioned anxiously.

“Percy, what I saw next, as much as I could remember, baffled me. He wasn’t being hunted by those vampires. Rather, he was commanding them.”

“Nico was commanding other vampires? Are you sure?” Percy pondered for a moment. “Was he a- was he one of _us_? Was he a vampire, too?

Rachel shook her head. “Nico is naturally very pale, I can’t be sure if he really was a vampire. But the other vampires- and before you, ask it wasn’t your coven- were in a trance as they listened to Nico. It was as if Nico was controlling them.”

Percy nodded, his eye brows furrowed. He urged her silently to continue.

“Soon after, another vampire joined him. He spoke to Nico as one would with an old friend or a lover.” Rachel took a deep breath. “Percy, that other vampire was Luke.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr,  
> [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)
> 
> I'm open to prompts!


	5. Sire

** Chapter 5: Sire **

It was Saturday. Percy had not showed up in school for two days, pretending to have fallen sick from some allergic reaction. He had made sure that Hazel, Frank and Rachel or at least any one of them, stayed close to Nico in school while he didn’t attend.

With Percy busy looking for something the he was not telling Nico about, Nico noticed certain changes in the coven. When Percy was present, everyone’s eyes were on Percy, watching him and asking him for the next plans.  When Percy was away, it was as if there was some invisible power that he had held shifted over to Reyna. She was their leader when Percy wasn’t, the second in command when Percy was.

Nico also noticed that Rachel had started to distance herself from the coven most of the times. Not that Nico knew exactly how close she was to the vampiric clan, but she seemed intent to stay aloof for long. She avoided Nico the most.

After he had spent the night at the coven’s house for the first time, he had bonded with Piper and Hazel and Frank and Leo very quickly. Leo was the funniest of them all, with his little quirks that made him shine in his own personal twinkle. Frank was mostly quiet but always a mess of fondness and with a bad case of shape shifting when Hazel abruptly kissed him sometimes.

The first time Nico had seen Frank change was when after coming from patrol duty-whatever the eff that was- Hazel had tenderly kissed Frank as she had wiped away the streaks of mud on his cheeks. Nico had almost screamed when instead of where Frank had been, an alley cat had appeared in Hazel’s arm and was purring lightly as she scratched his fur.

Octavian had very unkindly mocked Nico’s face of astonishment, which had ended up in Nico abusing him, Frank prying him off the blond with a hand pressed to his mouth to stop the curse words falling through Nico’s lips and Octavian looking at him as though he’d killed his dog and run away with his wife.

“Hey, what’s with that stare?” Nico asked, uncomfortably, as Octavian’s staring continued. He fidgeted on Percy’s bed, placing his library copy of The Great Gatsby on the bed. It looked like Octavian was silently planning his murder while glaring a hole through his brain.

Leo, who had been sitting beside him on the bodyguard duty at the time, huffed. “Octavian, you really shouldn’t. Percy told you specifically not to.”

Octavian’s glare only intensified. “I can’t do it.” He said with his brown eyes blazing with something that Nico couldn’t put a finger on.

Nico’d eyebrows knitted. “Do what?” he turned from Leo to look at Octavian.

Leo placed a hand on his shoulder. “Octavian, stop it already. Percy’s told you to not do it to the coven members.”

Octavian gritted his teeth. “He’s a mortal. He doesn’t belong in the coven yet.” He said, not blinking even once. “And Percy isn’t my sire. He can’t tell me what to do.”

Leo’s grip on Nico’s shoulder was downright painful. “Octavian!” he roared, in a voice so unlike his usual bubbly self that Nico flinched. “Let it go, right now, or I swear it’ll be more than just fire burns temporarily scarring your body.”

“Can anyone tell me what’s going on?” Nico interjected, feeling completely out of the loop.

Leo glared at Octavian as he answered Nico. “Octavian was trying to pry into your mind and control it, like mind control.”

Nico’s eyes grew wide. “What the hell? That is some serious breach of privacy, you leech!” he near screamed. He immediately grew guarded in his expressions, trying desperately to not think of memories which were rather hard to explain.

Octavian rolled his eyes. “Stop the theatrics. I wasn’t going to mind control you, just poke around your memories for a bit.” He looked creepy when he smiled like that.

“But he actually wasn’t going to, right Octavian?” Leo said, narrowing his eyes.

Octavian snorted. “It’s not like I actually can if I wanted to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how, but his mind’s barricading me from entering.” Octavian looked like it was taking all his life force for him to admit that aloud. “I can’t read him.”

Nico visibly deflated in relief. If Leo caught on how his shoulders slumped immediately, he didn’t comment on it, instead picked up his book, written in Latin, and started reading.

But Nico knew Octavian had seen him slump in relief, and the look that Nico got in return was one of a promise. Like Octavian was silently challenging to strip him down off all his secrets.

Nico felt the hair on his neck stand up in horror at the thought. His memories were something even Nico didn’t want to think of again. And now it looked like Octavian knew he had a secret. The glint in his eyes promised Nico that he would find about it.

Nico avoided his eyes for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

 

Nico had just finished his dinner and was returning to his dorms when he felt something strange. Leo was at his side and even though he hadn’t eaten with Nico, he had assured him he wasn’t hungry.  The latino didn’t seem to notice the shift in the air or the way the lights flickered all at once.

The hair on Nico’s neck stood up. It was almost as if he could feel something sinister in the air. The stairs felt too big to climb for a moment and the walls seemed to creep closer in the darkness.

Nico dug his hands in his pocket, fidgeting for his cell phone. Beside him, Leo had stilled and walked robotically towards Nico’s dorm room, silently motioning Nico to move faster.

Nico hurried through the stairs as silently as possible, unsure of what lurked in the darkness. The dorms were eerily silent; not even the lightest chatter was heard. Nico pressed his hands against the corridor walls as he moved, breathing deep with clenched teeth.

Someone in the distance let out a loud howl of pain, a scream which unsettled Nico even more. This was a high school campus; there weren’t supposed to be any flickering lights or ear piercing screams there.

But then something in Nico broke when he realised that he could recognise the screams he heard. He had heard them thousands of times. In his childhood. In his nightmares.

The lights above him flickered and shattered into tiny shards of glass, one scraping Nico on his cheek. A small drop of blood made its way down his chin.

All he felt was dread. He could no longer feel Leo beside him. He was all alone.

No he wasn’t.

He never realized how he’d come back here, running through the trees and the woods with the cold air hitting his skin harshly, as he arrived by their house. He’d only followed the sound of the scream. His house. Bianca’s house. Their house.

She was right there waiting for him, her eyes shining even in the darkness, her form illuminated only by moonlight. She stood unblinking, looking as collected as ever, as if it hadn’t been her who had screamed just a few moments prior. Another girl stood beside her, her hair radiating light as if she were the moon itself. She resembled someone he knew.

His lips formed her name. But no voice came out. He reached out for her, but the ground rumbled and darkness enveloped him, before it abruptly dissolved into light. He said her name aloud, one last time, before the he could no longer see from the overwhelming brightness.

Nico couldn’t recognise the scream out of his own mouth. “Bianca!” he screamed, before a hand clamped down on his mouth.

* * *

 

He ruffled the blonde hair, kissing them softly.

“I need you to tell me everything you have known about Nico di Angelo.” Luke said. His blue eyes were as unforgiving as ever, but he looked calm.

The blonde in front of him didn’t flinch, already used to the sudden displays of fondness as Luke stroked a cheek. “He’s eighteen, almost nineteen. Italian-American. Orphaned at a young age. Had a sister who died a few years ago.”

Luke hummed. He picked up a dart from the coffee table. He licked the metal tip once, coating it once in vampire venom, before aiming for the wall opposite to him.

The blonde continued. “He’s a resident at the school dorms. Good at studies. Doesn’t trust anyone in the coven beside Leo and Hazel. And of course, Percy. Nico is a bit of an introvert, doesn’t have any friends at the school besides a classmate by the name Will Solace who is his lab partner. They are not that close though. I’m telling you, Luke, he’s a nobody. He has nothing attractive about him and he isn’t even remotely supernatural. He isn’t even fluent in Italian.”

Luke snarled, swiftly throwing the dart across the room in a rare display of rage. The dart hit the wall precisely at the mark he was aiming for. It hit the wall exactly over an ‘i’, forming its dot.

The other blonde in the room steered their eyes away from the word which was very evident from the other side of the room.  

‘Mine’ said the letters on the other wall, written by the darts sticking out of the wall.

“He’s Percy’s mate.” Luke said, flashing his fangs at the other vampire. “That reason is enough to make him special!” he screamed, pulling the other vampire by their hair.

The blonde whimpered. “Master Luke, I apologise!” came the sickening whimper of the vampire.

“If you are caught, before I catch that mortal, I’ll find you and make sure you cease existing, you repulsive creature!” he screamed in the blonde’s face.

* * *

 

“What are you all looking at?” Leo said with hands on his hips as Nico recovered from whatever was going on with him. “My boyfriend likes to call me Bianca sometimes; it’s really no big deal. It’s 2017! Now shoo!”

Nico grumbled something before curled on his side on the corridor floor. Leo pretended to struggle as he lifted his sleeping _boyfriend_ and carried him to his room. For the time being, he ignored the tears on the mortal’s cheeks, cascading down his chin as he surely dreamt about something horrible. But that was no reason to feign being dead, Leo mused. Thankfully, he had just fainted.

As he placed the frail mortal on the bed, the boy immediately fell asleep, breathing deeply. Leo let out a dramatic _whew_ as he dusted his jeans and dialed Percy’s number.

* * *

 

When Nico woke up on Sunday, it wasn’t in his own bed. He wasn’t in his dorm where he was sure he’d fallen asleep with Leo tinkering nearby.

Instead he was in Percy’s bed – again- and a tired looking Rachel loomed over him with a thermometer in her hand.

“Good morning, patient. It’s a mild fever. 101 degrees.” She said, waving the thermometer in her hand.

Nico could feel himself burning up beneath the numerous blankets someone had placed on him.

“How did I get here?” he muttered. His voice was scratchy and his accent was definitely making itself known. It was taking a lot of effort for him to keep his eyes open.

“Leo brought you here. You fainted on the way to your dorm.” Rachel said, getting up from beside him. “You gave Percy quite a scare when you refused to even wake up to swallow those pills.”

“Rachel, I-”but Rachel had already turned her back to him and pretended to ignore anything else he said to her. Before Nico could dwell on the odd behaviour, Percy and Leo entered his room.

Maybe it was the fever which made Nico see it, but on seeing Nico awake, Percy’s eyes immediately shone brighter.

“Percy.” He tried to sit up.

“Oh no no no no, sleep!” Percy ordered, pressing Nico’s shoulders to the bed and restricting any movement.

Leo stood beside Percy. He smiled lightly at Nico and Nico tried to smile back.

Percy glared at Leo. “Of course, dear _boyfriend_ , would you mind leaving me alone with _my_ mate?”

Leo chuckled and left the room, ruffling Nico’s hair as he went.

“Nico, how are you feeling?” Percy asked, feeling the warm skin. His hand was ice cold against Nico’s skin, but Nico leaned in his touch anyway.

Nico opened his mouth to answer but only a yawn came out. Before Percy could ask anything else, Nico was sound asleep once one more, his face resting on Percy’s hand.

* * *

 

As Nico sipped his third coffee of the day at just 11 am on a Sunday morning, a bit by bit revelation of the previous day’s incidents were taking place. It all started with Leo who had gone into a detailed explanation as to why he had been carrying Nico to the coven’s house without telling Percy first.

“So, Nico’s dinner had me obviously trying not to throw up, because human food is eww and humans are the better food.” Then Leo stopped and looked at Nico who had an alarmed expression on his face. “Sorry, man. Anyway, I was a little distracted as we headed up to Nico’s dorms and then all of a sudden Nico collapsed, breathing heavily and gripping at my shirt so tightly I was afraid he might tear it off and then he was mumbling a girl’s name in his dizzy state and people were coming out of their rooms and asking why this guy was holding onto me and calling me a girl’s name so I told them we had this kink going on and that they shouldn’t be bothered because it was 2017 and I really hoped I said the right year but anyway I picked him up and carried him to his room, but then as I stood outside the door, I could hear him whimpering from inside and he was burning up so I carried him here, because I couldn’t go to a doctor’s because I wasn’t even invited inside a clinic and that could’ve been a problem and so I brought him here instead.”

Jason whistled. “If you had been mortal, I’d have said _breathe_.” Nico laughed uneasily. Leo chuckled.

Percy didn’t look amused. “I see how you’ve carefully left out the part where you declared you were his boyfriend.” Percy said with narrowed eyes.

Octavian laughed snidely. “Percy, come on, it’s not like he was trying to become Nico’s mate or something. Besides, Nico isn’t actually your _boyfriend_.”

Percy clenched his jaw. Nico fidgeted in his seat, hiding his face behind his coffee mug. This wasn’t something Nico’d have liked to discuss in public especially in front of the coven. It was equal parts embarrassing and horrifying to have something so private being discussed aloud. Not that being in a closed room was going to help. Hazel had told him that vampires have very acute senses of hearing and can hear sounds from very far away and very low in volume.

“It’s irrelevant.” Percy looked livid to say the least. He placed a hand of Nico’s shoulder, a little too firm and Nico almost slumped from the pressure. “Whether we are together or not, he remains my mate and I don’t want anyone _ever_ crossing any boundaries with Nico. Is that clear?” His words were directed at Octavian mostly.

Nico’s breath left him in a shudder, his eyes avoiding contact with anyone.

After a brief bout of silence, where everyone was too surprised from Percy’s sudden anger, Reyna picked up where their conversation had left off. “Annabeth found something interesting while we were scouting near long island.”

Annabeth nodded and moved closer to the coven. Although Nico didn’t dislike her for the way their first meeting had gone, he was still reasonably wary of the vampire.

“Someone was near the camp, a vampire. Not someone from our coven, but a scent I couldn’t place. Maybe if you could see who that was, Percy, we’d find out exactly who it was and if they are working with or for Luke.” She said.

Percy hummed. Nico closed his eyes when he felt the humming rather than heard it; where Percy’s fingers were clamped on his shoulder, warmth was starting to spread. Nico reckoned it was the after effects of the fever.

It was common knowledge that Annabeth had been a vampire for only a decade. She had spent almost half of her time since she had changed trying to figure out her new life, without her sire or any other vampire to guide her. She’d been rogue, with no friends, killing anyone who smelled good enough.  It had been quite a while before she had come across other vampires. Even then she had struck out as rather peculiar, changing coven every few months before she’d come across Percy’s coven.

Because of her unmanaged bloodlust, she had been unable to make out anything that wasn’t human when she was thirsty. As a result, the memories of her earlier vampire days were foggy. She had even no recollection of any coven’s she had belonged to before, nor did she recognise their scents.

But she’d fit right in with Percy’s coven since day one, because this coven wasn’t like any other. They were all misfits, people who didn’t belong to other covens but existed very happily in Percy’s coven.

As far as Nico knew, only a few of the coven were actually sired by Percy. He didn’t know who they were, but they all were extremely loyal to Percy, including even Octavian, whose full time job was to suck blood and part time job was to comment on puny mortals. There were all like a family, kept together by trust and reverence more than by any other bond.

“We’ll go tonight. There’s something else I have to do.” He looked at Nico briefly. “Frank, Reyna, Jason, I will need you three with me tonight. Hazel, Octavian, Annabeth, I believe you will keep the place secure. Leo you’re going to be with Nico, but I swear any-“

“Yeah, Percy, no funny business with Nico, got it.” Leo said, mimicking Percy’s stance.

Percy rolled his eyes but continued “Rachel, you have your own things to do. Pipes will be you.”

“Percy, could I stay with-” Annabeth started, but Percy shook his head. Annabeth’s expression was sombre.

“Annabeth, not yet, please.” He said, very quietly, having a private conversation with Percy in a room full of people.

Nico wished he could read minds like Octavian. But it looked like Octavian already had. Octavian’s eyes were unbelievable wide and he blurted something like “You’ve got be joking, Annabeth.”

“Octavian!” Percy growled. “This is the last time you use you powers on the coven members.”

Octavian smirked lazily. “Everyone has secrets, Percy, and it’s not like I’m going to tell.”

Annabeth rushed outside with her eyes blood red, a hand on her nose. She could still be lured into bloodlust when she was very angry. Reyna nodded once, before following Annabeth outside.

Even though he didn’t like Annabeth much, Nico hated Octavian at that moment with every fibre of his mortal body. He watched as Octavian was reprimanded by Percy, who said something that made Octavian flinch. He couldn’t hear what, though, their voices were too low.

Percy dismissed the others. Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel and Octavian went back to their rooms, while Piper and Rachel took the car keys and drove off to Rachel’s house.

It was then that Percy realised that Nico was tugging at his hand like a small child, trying to take up his attention. Percy sighed and took the empty mug from Nico’s hands, pulling the blanket on him tighter. He could smell the bittersweet coffee on Nico’s lips, his tongue. He could also sense the distress and slight confusion.

He’d never wanted to kiss Nico so badly before. It was the only thing he thought which could assure him. He was right there, leaning down, his fingers tilting Nico’s chin up.

Nico cleared his throat, brushing off Percy’s hands lightly. “Percy, can we talk?” Nico whispered, standing before him.  

Percy straightened, trying not to look taken aback at Nico’s dismissal of his affections. He had never done this before. Not even when he hadn’t known he was Percy’s mate.

“Sure.” Percy smiled. He hoped it didn’t look as fake as it felt. “What is it?”

Nico looked around. “Somewhere more private. I don’t want anyone else to hear it.”

Percy nodded. Maybe a little privacy was better. His coven didn’t need to know everything that happened between Nico and him. Besides, he knew Nico was in the dark about the situation going on. He had to tell him about it and the sooner he did it would be the better.

“I’ll get my keys.” Percy whispered, letting his eyes drop lower from Nico’s eyes.

Nico’s bottom lip was moist, pink and full. As lovely they were to see, they felt even more beautiful when between Percy’s own.

Nico suddenly waved a hand in front of Percy’s face.

Percy snapped back. “Oh, yeah. The car. I mean the keys. The car keys, right.” He stuttered out before rushing up to grab them, leaving slightly amused Nico behind.

* * *

 

Nico sat on the hood of Percy’s silver Honda Civic. Percy sat beside him, focused on Nico fully. Neither had spoken yet, but for a while, the silence felt nice. Their legs were touching, but Nico hardly noticed. He was lost in his thoughts, wondering where to begin, how much to reveal, how much actually to tell Percy.

Nico took a deep breath. “Percy.” He turned to look at the gorgeous vampire beside him. “Please listen to me before you say anything.  I-” Nico gulped. “I really don’t know how to tell this to you, or how you’ll handle it, but...”

Percy took his hand between his. “I won’t say anything at all if you don’t want me to. Nico, if you’re uncomfortable, I don’t want you to even tell me anything.” He sighed. “If there’s one thing being a vampire has taught me, it is patience.”

Nico smiled sadly. “I want to tell you, though. I don’t want this to be a secret between us.”  He took a deep breath again, preparing himself for the bomb he was about to drop on Percy. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He was shaking now, and Percy had an arm across his shoulders to make him stop.

As if sensing his distress, Percy rubbed circles o his arm, making Nico lean into his chest. “You don’t have to say anything.” Nico looked up at him. “How about this, I’ll tell you something first and then you can tell me whatever you wanted to. Okay?”

Nico nodded.

“I know you don’t understand much of what’s happening in the coven right now. Everyone’s kinda tensed and on alert.” Percy began. “There’s a vampire. Luke. He goes by Lucas Castellan nowadays. He’s back to the Big Apple. And he’s trouble.

“Luke and I met when he was nothing but a fledgling. Similar to most vampires, his sire had abandoned him and he had spent most of his years as a newborn vampire on his own, finding his own supply of blood, staying hidden and all that. I was almost four hundred years old when we met first. At that time, the coven had only Hazel, Frank, Reyna and Piper. We tried to welcome him to the coven. But he couldn’t adapt to our style, living like friends, almost like a family. He was used to being alone, liked it that way.”

Percy looked down to see Nico intently listening to him. He continued. “It was years before it happened, but Luke grew very close to me and we had a friendship unlike any other.  It was around that time that I sired Jason. Luke also sired someone just a few years after. It was Octavian. Hazel and Frank were sired by me, but they were supernatural even before that. Hazel was a witch and Frank, a shape-shifter. When I turned them, they became hybrids, not full vampires. After siring Octavian, Luke realised that he was more like minded than I or the other members of the coven. The both of them believed that the coven should be only for the vampires. The full- turned vampires. They hated the idea of hybrids existing.

“Of course, Octavian was just a newborn then. To him, everything his sire said was the only thing which mattered. He was too new in the supernatural world to actually realise how wrong he’d been in his thinking. Octavian looked up to Luke, worshipped him even. It took a lot of fights between me and Luke to make Octavian realise that even his sire could commit mistakes.

“But one fight turned very ugly. Luke and I, we almost killed each other.” Percy rubbed a hand over his eyes. It was a human habit he had picked up at school. “Luke left the coven, saying he had never wanted to be a part of it in the first place. But he refused to take along Octavian with him. Luke justified his reasons by saying he was used to being alone. He liked being alone. Liked being the one in control. The coven was something which was too familiar with the way mortals socialised themselves. And he hated bearing any resemblance to his previous life.”

Nico sighed deeply. He still couldn’t get why a vampire who had left the coven posed a danger to anyone. If Luke really wanted out, he’d done that many years ago. Why were they still worrying about him now?

“So he left Octavian behind, in the coven. Octavian was broken. Being abandoned by his sire was the worst thing to have happened to him. It was like his entire life had revolved around Luke as the centrepiece only to find out he never wanted him around. Octavian hardly hunted with us, was always in a rage and never interacted with anyone. Jason was the only one who still could manage to get a reaction out of him. Being sired around the same time, Octavian and Jason had always this unspoken rivalry. They constantly competed to best each other. It was the only thing which had kept Octavian still in the coven. Because leaving the coven would look like Jason had bested him or that he was tired of competing, and Octavian possibly didn’t like that option.

“A century passed. Octavian slowly became a part of the coven once more. But he had become snide and colder. Luke’s dismissal of his own fledgling had done that. He still competed with Jason and had an occasional fight with Frank. We were in Europe at the time. Hiding at the coldest places. We thrive in the cold. Hence, we were able to go without human blood for weeks. Then we started hearing News from the north. Someone was recruiting. Not a coven or even a guard, but an army. Of the vampires. Newly turned and heavily brainwashed. No one knew who was behind the making of that army. But we had a clue. It had to be Luke.

“Luke had said he liked being the one in charge. My guess is, he started liking it more than being alone. Having almost an entire small village full of vampires like Octavian who were ready to follow their sire till night turned day.  The Europeans had started building ships by that time and were travelling in discovery of new places. A lot of people had started venturing towards the Asian countries. Shipwrecks were common in those days. So nobody had a clue when Luke’s fledglings turned an entire ship of people into vampires. Luke had an army as big as the population of a town now.”

Nico could now see why exactly Luke was havoc.

“Fortunately, whether from a sense of duty or from a sense of gratitude towards the coven, Luke never attacked us. But the other vampire families, the rogue vampires and the hybrids were all scared of the onslaught they were sure to face. We were their only hope. It went against everything the coven had prided themselves for to go on a war with Luke’s army.”

Nico was full on shivering now. It wasn’t even cold outside. But he had just been recovering from a fever and had refused to wear even a scarf. Making a rather rash decision, Percy picked Nico up from the hood, ignoring his surprised yelp and helped him inside the car. He switched on the heater. He climbed in the backseat, shut the door and rolled down the windows only a little bit to let the fresh air in.

“Tell me the next time you are cold, Nico.”

“Tell me the next time you’re going to drag me in your car, Percy.” Nico countered.

Percy chuckled, bopping his nose to Nico’s. Nico didn’t pull away this time when Percy’s fingers gripped his chin and tilted him closer for a kiss. Nico didn’t protest when Percy’s lips brushed his. He simply closed his eyes and pulled Percy closer by his shirt. Their lips met heatedly, warm against cool, soft against rough. Nico brushed his tongue against Percy’s bottom lip, moaning when Percy’s tongue entwining with his.

Nico could never understand this. Just a minute ago they were talking about some rogue vampire and now they were full on snogging. It was as if Percy’s close proximity to him had driven all rationale out of his mind.

Percy was letting out little groans in his mouth, pulling him closer by his neck. Nico straddled Percy’s lap, groaning when he felt Percy rub against him.

Percy was a mess underneath Nico. He could smell Nico’s blood rushing to his brain, to his heart. His neck was unmarked, inviting him to give in and taste his mate again. Even though he didn’t need to breathe, Nico did, and with a heavy sigh, he broke the kiss, loving the way Nico’s closed eyes opened slowly, hooded with undisguised lust.

“It’s better to stop right now.” Percy let out a sheepish laugh. Nico was still on his lap, breathing in pants. He felt so hot; Percy could’ve mistaken him for the sun. It was also a wonder how Nico’s head hadn’t bumped against the roof of the car.

Nico still clutching Percy’s shirt, hummed. As he leaned on Percy’s chest, Percy’s hands enclosed around him, trapping him flush with the vampire’s body. Nico didn’t mind. If Percy hadn’t stopped when he had, Nico would’ve let him do with his body as he’d have pleased. It felt like he was under Percy’s control and anything Percy asked of him, he’d have given it.

“Can you continue your story?” he asked instead, trying his best to distract himself from the thoughts of what could’ve happened.

Percy kissed the top of Nico’s head. “So where were we?” he asked.

“The coven had a fight with Luke’s army.” Nico replied, attention back on Percy’s words.

“Yeah. The war we had with Luke’s army wasn’t very good. While Luke had showed the vampires their strengths he had not told them of their weaknesses. It took days, but we developed a strategy to torture the vampires with our abilities. A vampire can’t technically die, unless he or she wishes to. So, Frank and Hazel planted scenarios in their mind where they were being tortured without even actually touching them. Jason hit them with lightning and tortured them for days. Piper has the ability to make anyone do her bidding. You can grow immune to it after a while, but to most vampires, someone as beautiful as Piper wasn’t a sign of danger. Piper turned them on themselves.

“Reyna and I held them off as the others used their abilities. Sometimes, I called upon the rains to make Jason’s electrocution even more unbearable. It was the hardest for Octavian to turn against his own sire, but he dug through the minds of the vampires and exploited their weakness. He had them groaning and ripping out their own brains in a matter of minutes.  The war lasted for about a week. We had killed most of the army, before Luke called them back.

“We didn’t confront Luke during the war. But with only a dozen or so vampires with him, Luke disappeared again. We thought he had gotten his fair share of loss. We escaped with a few scars on our bodies and no significant loss. So we laid low and kept peace with other clans. Almost a century later, we moved to the United States. New York was ideal as it was already developing and colder. It was easier for all the clan to blend in. Sometime after, I sired Leo. We were all a big happy coven.

“A decade before, we found Annabeth, searching for us throughout the city. Luke had sent her. He had sired her just a few years prior, but after realizing that Annabeth was more interested in books than blood, he sent her away to find me. He said to Annabeth he was sorry for abandoning her and asked her to relay the same message for Octavian. Ever since then, Luke’s trail was cold. We hadn’t heard anything about him, until he showed up in New York, all of a sudden. He might’ve come in peace, but I know we can’t take chances.”

“Percy, do you trust Octavian and Annabeth?” Nico asked. He was really disliking Octavian more and more every minute, for no specific reason. “Luke had sired them after all.”

Percy sighed. “It was difficult. But Annabeth was never attached to Luke in the way Octavian had been. And more than once, they have both proved to be loyal to the coven. Loyal to me. Trust is the bonding agent in our coven. I can’t lose faith in them. We keep the coven strong by trusting each other and this is something all the coven members believe in.”

Nico hummed. He hadn’t exactly gotten the point. He trusted Percy and even Leo and Hazel to a limit. But the other members of the coven were still under the ‘cannot be trusted’ signboard. Maybe it was a vampire thing. Vampire brotherhood thing. Nico didn’t give it much thought.

“I still don’t trust Octavian.” He murmured.

Percy drew circles on his waist. “Hey, give him some time. A part of him is still prejudiced against mortals; it isn’t easy for him to completely accept you. But he’s trying. He hasn’t attacked you yet, has he?”

Nico shook his head. “But he did try reading my mind. And failed epically.”

Percy laughed. “Failed epically? What were you thinking of, snow angels?”

Nico frowned. “I don’t know. I can’t remember. But it doesn’t matter anyway. Octavian couldn’t actually read my mind.” he laughed, trying to brush it off. Maybe Percy’d think he was weird for Octavian being unable to read him.

But Percy’s lips tilted in a frown. “He couldn’t read your mind? What did-” then as if looking at Nico for the first time, he was studying him from top to bottom.

Nico squirmed. “Percy,” he said “you’re making me feel awkward.”

Percy gripped Nico’s hands in one fluid movement, holding him still with other hand. His dark green eyes bore into Nico’s.  The amusement from before was gone. “You couldn’t possibly block him. Tell me you can’t”

“Percy, what-”

Then Percy’s eyes widened. “Of course. You were able to hide from me. From my coven.” Something akin to venom filled his eyes. “You knew about the supernatural world existing from before, didn’t you? You knew about vampires existing and you also knew how to keep away from them. You aren’t just mortal are you, Nico?” Percy asked, his angry words making Nico let out a choked sob.

“Please, Percy.” Nico said, gasping. It was as if Percy’s anger was shutting down his windpipe. “I am a mortal, Percy. I’m not whatever you are thinking I am.”

Percy’s grip tightened and the black in his irises darkened. “I don’t want to hurt you, Nico. Please tell me what you are.”

Nico grit his teeth. He refused to cry out from the pain as Percy’s fingers dug into his skin. “I am human, Percy!” He shouted. His voice reverberated inside the car, making Nico flinch from its loudness. “I am nothing supernatural, Percy. Please, believe me.” A lone tear escaped from his left eye.

Maybe it was his face or maybe it was the desperation his voice that made Percy loosen his grip on his arms. There was no guilt on Percy’s face for hurting Nico, however when he apologised he seemed apologetic.

“Forgive me, I was-” Percy sighed. “I just want to know why you can do it.”

Nico shook his head. “I don’t know Percy. All I know is that I am not different. I am just like any other human being, except I did always believe of vampires and faeries and other fictitious stuff to exist. I had guessed that you were a vampire, but I might’ve been off my kilter and half-mad and dreaming about things that weren’t existing. But by some fluke or chance, they did exist. They do exist.”Nico placed a warm hand on Percy’s cheek. “And I’m very grateful to whatever deity exists that I wasn’t completely ignorant to that existence.”

Percy groaned. “I still can’t believe you’re some ordinary mortal; no human should be able to make my anger dissipate by some sweet words.” He murmured.

Nico couldn’t help but snort; Percy thought he was being romantic.

“I wasn’t being cute, Percy.” He said, but he didn’t stop Percy from stroking Nico’s hand on his cheek with his fingers. “I was being truthful.”

 _Not entirely truthful,_ a voice in his mind said. The voice was eerily familiar to his sister’s. Nico decided not to dwell not it.

His phone vibrated inside his jean pocket. Nico took it out to give Percy a puzzled look. “Why is Rachel calling me?” he asked aloud.

Percy just prompted him to receive the call, but he had his brows furrowed.

“Hello? It’s Nico.” He said as he received the call.

There was some static on the other side, as if Rachel was standing between a storm. “Nico, it’s Rachel speaking. You need to come back to you dorm.”

“My dorm? Why? Is everything alright?”

“Is Percy there?” Rachel said instead. Nico eyes flitted to Percy’s. Percy nodded once. Nico mumbled an affirmative. “Percy, I’m assuming you’re listening. Nico’s dorm room is trashed. There was someone here who wasn’t supposed to be.”

“Who else is there with you, Red?” Percy spoke.

“Piper is.” She answered. “And before you ask, it wasn’t a vampire here who trashed the place. It was something else entirely.” More static.

“We’ll get there. Stay there. Don’t go anywhere, especially you, Rachel.” Percy said, before hanging up without a reply.

“Come on, Nico.” Percy said, sliding to the driving seat. “It’s time you invited me in your dorms.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incase you'll want some detailed info:
> 
> 1500: When the witch hunts in Europe began. Also the time when Hazel and Frank were turned. Luke was a fledgling.  
> 15th, 16th Century onwards: Europeans started building ships for the discovery of other lands.  
> 17th century: Octavian and Jason were turned.  
> 18th Century: The war between Luke's army and Percy's clan.  
> 1900: Development of New York as it is seen today.
> 
> Find me on tumblr,  
> [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)


	6. Wolf

** Chapter 6: Wolf **

Nico’s room was a mess.

His bed was overturned, the sheets making a muddle on the floor. His books laid overturned on the floor, some of them with their pages strewn over the various overturned surfaces. Nico’s bin, still having the cracked mirror was the only thing not wrecked; it stood at the far end of the room, empty save for the mirror and a few paper balls. His closet was open and clothes were disposed all over the surface in haphazard balled up lumps. Nothing seemed to be missing among those belongings.

His cabinet in the bathroom was open and his toothbrush was seemingly looking mutilated, with its bristles scattered on the basin. His shampoo and soaps were untouched, but the bathroom was muddy as if someone with shoes caked with dirt had scavenged through it.

There was something about the room, something gloomy about its mere appearance that made Nico draw closer to the vampire nearest to him. For the first time, he felt safer with the vampires. Beside him, Leo picked up his bed and placed it carefully against the wall, as if it weighed nothing more than a pebble.

Percy kneeled to inspect the books. A few were torn carelessly, some lay upside down on the shelf and a few were scattered with their pages folded as if something heavy had been over them for a long time. He sniffed Nico’s copy of Macbeth, staring up at Nico when a multitude of scents tormented his nostrils.

Nico shrugged. “It’s a library copy.” Percy sighed; he should’ve guessed so from the slightly yellowed pages.

Leo pointed to the broken lock of the door. “How come no one had seen this? No one saw people breaking open the lock?” he asked, sceptical.

“Nico, Do you have any bullies? Someone who’d break in your room just to mess with you?” Percy asked.

Nico tried hard to think. His mind wandered back to his trampled room. He swallowed. “I don’t know. I mean, I really don’t mix with people. I only used to talk with my roommate when he was here and his few friends when they came over, but I can’t remember any of the students holding any grudge.”

Leo frowned. “None? No verbal fights?”                                                                                              

“Nope.” Nico stared at the ground. “I’ve never really spited anyone. Except…” Nico trailed, remembering a name. “Except for one guy. He’d asked me out for junior prom and I’d refused. He was really sullen for a few days after that. But we’ve talked a few times after that.”

Percy sighed. Forgotten lovers-who-could-have-been. “Name?” he asked. He hoped his annoyance wasn’t visible.

“I think it’s something…uhm, yeah. Will Solan? Will Smith? Ugh. I just remember his first name is Will.” Nico replied, running his forehead.

The remainder hour they were in Nico’s room was spent with Leo and Percy putting the books and overturned furniture in place and then sniffing around the room like mad dogs. When Leo decided to try smelling his socks, Nico drew a line.

“That’s enough, Leo.” He muttered, snatching the socks away from him. He placed his clothes in their designated places, providing occasional inputs to the other two vampires to place the things as they were.

“Definitely not a vampire.” Percy said once everything was back in order except the broken lock. Nico was in the bathroom, flushing the mud down the shower drain. He mouthed to Leo “Werewolves.”

“Nico, can I borrow your sweater?” Percy called out. Nico yelled, frustrated, from the bathroom. Percy and Leo sniggered to themselves before helping him in the bathroom to wash it clean.

“What do you need my sweater for?” he questioned, wiping his brow with his sleeve.

Percy smiled. “To fucking wash it. It reeks of something.”

Nico huffed. “I don’t wear that sweater anymore; I’ve outgrown it..”

Percy looked briefly at Leo.

“I’ll check the cameras at the entrance of the dorms. I might find something.” Leo quietly slipped past them.

“I’m starting to think I should move to your house full time.” Nico joked.

Percy’s eyes shot up at the idea. “Brilliant! Pack your bags, Nico.” He moved to get Nico’s books.

Nico placed a hand on Percy’s. “I was only joking.”

Percy visibly deflated. “I thought... never mind.” Then his eyes steeled. “On second thoughts, it’d be better if you did move in. You’d be safer with all of us there.”

Nico gaped. “Percy, you can’t be serious.”

“I am, as a matter of fact.”

“But, I can’t move in with you!”

“Why the hell not?”

“Where would I stay?”

“In my room. It’s not like I have to sleep.”

“But how can I just stay in your room?”

“You’ve stayed in my room before, Nico. Come on, now. This is really silly.”

“But that was a few times. That was temporary! This isn’t! You’re asking me to move in with you full time and share a room with you? Percy this isn’t silly, this is mad. We aren’t even boyfriends!” Nico was practically screaming.

Percy’s eyes widened at that. So this was the sore topic- they weren’t boyfriends yet. Percy concealed a smirk which threatened to break out. He placed his hands on Nico’s shoulder. Nico stilled.

“Is that it?” Percy asked lowly. “That we aren’t boyfriends, it that what’s bothering you?”

Nico didn’t reply. He cast his eyes downwards, suddenly bashful as red tinted his ears.

Percy frowned. He had no experience in the boyfriend zone. Sure, there had been flings in the past, but none were serious enough for him to settle into the role of a boyfriend. It was an uncharted territory for both of them.

“Hey.” He whispered. “Look at me, Nico.” He gently forced his chin up.

Nico’s cheeks had pinked too. Percy could hear his increased heartbeats thudding rapidly. He could almost fell the blood rushing to Nico’s cheeks as he asked, “Do you want us to be boyfriends?”

Nico’s eyes were unblinking as he stared at Percy. Percy knew his irises were probably darkening.

“I wish we were.” Nico finally said.

“We could be.” Percy offered. He drew Nico closer.

Nico’s arms came to rest on Percy’s waist. “I don’t want you to push me away. Like today.” He said, averting his eyes. “I want to be close to you, Percy. But I can’t really understand what you want if you keep pulling me in just to push me away, I can’t handle that.”

Percy brushed a few stray curls behind Nico’s ears. “I can’t Nico. If I keep pulling you in and if I don’t stop, I won’t be able to control myself.”

“Then stop. But don’t drive me away.”

“It isn’t as easy, Nico. Your blood calls to me, just as it does to other vampires. But I have it harder; every fibre of my being tells me to keep you close and kiss you and love you and mark you till you and I become one. Till you become like me.”

Percy kept Nico at an arm’s length. Percy’s eyes constantly diverted to the pale column of Nico’s neck, where the jugular was full of fresh blood, pumping through him. His eyes kept switching, colours from a pale golden to dark green and from his eyes to his lips to his neck.

For the first time, Nico could see the debate within Percy. His instincts told him to pin Nico down and turn him every time they came close. His morality kept him from doing so and thus, he kept pushing him away.

“I ache with the desire to make you an undead. My bloodlust craves your taste above anything, a thirst only you can fully quench. And I have wanted, lusted after the thought of you being a vampire for so long. I can’t really hold back, Nico.”

He didn’t comprehend when he did it, but he moved to steps backwards, almost letting his hands fall from Percy’s waist. He didn’t want to be a vampire. He liked his mortal life. And though he liked the super-naturals, he never wished to be a part of them. He had narrowly escaped it in the past. He didn’t wish to get trapped in the same predicament again. He didn’t want to be a vampire, even though his mate was one. He was satisfied being a petty mortal, with his limited hearing and restricted sight.

“I don’t want to be a vampire, Percy.” He murmured, backing up against the wall. Percy stood where he was.

“I know Nico. Which is why I struggle to control it.” He said. He extended a hand towards Nico. “I need you to trust me. Please. I need you near me, Nico. I won’t hurt you, you know that.”

And Nico did know. He believed Percy wouldn’t hurt him. “I trust you.” Nico said. His tone was desperate. “I do trust you, Percy. But I need you to trust yourself. I want to be close to you without being afraid of when you’ll shove me away. I need you to control it, Percy.”

Percy stared wordlessly as Nico clasped Percy’s hand in his.

“For me. Please. Can’t you try? For your own mate?”

Percy crumpled, literally to his knees. He sank to the ground, keeping Nico’s hands clasped in his. He placed their joined hands on his head. “I will try, Nico. I promise.” He rose, unsteady on his feet for the first time since he had been turned. He smiled at Nico, feeling like a king as Nico smiled back at their clasped hands.

Nico cleared his throat. “Does this mean…I mean to say, are we, you know, boyfriends or something?”

Percy smirked, unable to conceal it from growing on his lips. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Nico flushed. “Yeah, I guess.” He looked up at Percy, significantly at a smaller height than he. His dark eyes peaked through his eyelashes. “Boyfriends.” He mumbled, more to himself than to Percy.

The door banged open. Leo strutted inside wearing a smirk.

“You take a long while to sort things, don’t you?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Percy rolled his eyes. Nico averted his eyes from both the vampires.

“How long were you here?” Percy asked him, shaking his head.

Leo hummed. “I think the whole conversation.”

“I thought you were my friend, Leo.” Nico said, trying to shove him.

Leo didn’t budge. He was still smirking. In a voice mimicking Percy’s, he said, “I try to be your friend, Nico. I promise.” He laughed harder as he ducked a well aimed punch Percy threw at him.

Nico, flustered, started piling his books in his sack. Percy turned back to Leo. “Did you find anything at all?” he asked. “Or were you enjoying Eavesdropping 101?”

All traces of mirth vanished from Leo’s face. “I looked into the footage. At the first glance, I thought it was some random guy breaking in, but then two other girls joined him. And then I realized the random guy wasn’t a random guy at all. He was a girl.”

Percy’s eyebrow rose. He motioned Leo to continue as Nico carefully folded his clothes and placed them on the bed.

“I nearly died when I found out who it was.” Leo clutched at his heart for the dramatic vibe to set in. “The blue streaked hair was unmistakable. It was Thalia.”

* * *

 

Thalia, as Nico came to know, was Jason’s older sister. And seemingly, she was still alive, what with Jason being turned sometime a century ago. So either, she was a vampire or she was some supernatural freak like Hazel or Frank or…

“She’s neither.” Percy answered him.

They were back in the coven’s house. Nico’s bag and sack were kept in Percy’s room. Everyone in the coven seemed unsurprised to see Nico lugging his bag there, perhaps because Nico already spent half of his time there.

Percy had called an impromptu meeting of a few of the coven members.  Only Leo, Hazel, Jason and Frank. Piper, Annabeth and Reyna were out, doing something Percy had told them to.

Rachel was with Reyna. After they’d come to Nico’s room to find it messed and trashed, they’d called Percy. Leo who was with them, had stayed back till Percy had arrived while Reyna had to take Rachel home because something about Nico’s room apparently bugged her.

Nico was glad that Rachel and Octavian were kinda absent when he arrived back at the coven’s house. Something about those two made him want to hide himself behind the sofa.

So, apparently, Jason’s sister was also immortal. “She’s a werewolf.” Jason said. He looked gloomy to point that out; Werewolves and vampires were never friends.

Nico felt all the air leave his lung. A werewolf. She couldn’t be from the same pack as Bianca, could she? It couldn’t be, could it?

She had come back just to torment Nico. Why else would they be searching his room? Why couldn’t she just have stayed away from him, just like she had when he had needed her the most? He felt a dull ache inside him as he tried to push away the overwhelming sadness that had filled him after his sister’s departure. She had chosen her side, amongst the wolves and had not even turned back to ask Nico if he wanted to come with her. She had abandoned him all those years ago; why would she bother with him now?

She didn’t care then. She wouldn’t care now.

A hand tentatively placed on his arm made Nico snap back to the present.

“You look a bit pale, Nico.” Jason said. “Oh! Don’t worry, the werewolves won’t really harm us until we’ve done something against the ancient laws. There’s not always a war when Werewolves and Vampires exist in the same sphere.” He gave him a placating smile.

“No, I mean. Yeah. I was just thinking. You know.” Nico said, giving a brief smile. “Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, Shapeshifters. What’s next? Tooth Faeries?”

Leo laughed. He patted Nico on the back good naturedly and Nico tried not to show the wince. Leo was strong even though he didn’t look it.

Percy didn’t look surprised at all by all this. As a leader of a coven, he should’ve been strategizing his next move against the werewolves, drive them out of his province. But he seemed unbothered.

“Rachel had warned me about this.” Percy said finally. “She had been having dreams, about werewolves, for a few nights. They showed no intention of a fight, according to her. So we shouldn’t be really worried. They could’ve come for something else entirely.”

“Yeah, like maybe they’ve come for Nico.” Hazel said snorting. “Percy, they broke into his room. Why would they do this? Did they want to talk to Nico? Take him somewhere? Or had someone told them that Nico won’t be in the dorms, so that they could break in and rummage through his things?”

“Hazel. I understand you concerns.” Percy replied. His hand on Nico’s arm was gently rubbing his shoulders, as if comforting Nico when the situation was the opposite. “But Nico has been with us for almost a week now. It is in their rights to safeguard the humans from other super-naturals, especially the vampires. Maybe they were just checking in on him, whether we had hurt him or had planned to.”

Percy didn’t understand. Nico wanted to scream. It wasn’t because of him being bro-pals with the Vampires that had caused this. It was surely his sister, lunatic and stubborn, who had decided that messing Nico’s room was an important metaphor to show how she had messed up his childhood.

“But why break into his room? I mean if they knew Nico knows about Vampires existing, it won’t be hard for him to digest Werewolves existing too. Why sneak around and break in?” Frank said.

“We don’t know for sure, Frank, what their intentions were, but I’m willing to pretend that they meant no harm as long as they don’t cause us trouble.” Percy said with finality in a tone.

Jason winked at Nico. “Are you sure it won’t be a trouble for you to share your room with Nico? I mean, Leo and I won’t be the only ones breaking beds now.”

Leo guffawed loudly. Hazel fanned her face.

“What?” Nico seemed clueless for a moment. Then as if struck by lightning, he remembered how Leo and Jason broke a bed every time they had sex.

His ears pinked and he stuttered. Beside him, Percy was in the same predicament, glaring at Jason but unable to say anything without actually stumbling over his words.

It caused the other two vampires to laugh even louder. Leo was almost on the floor, mumbling ‘ _Oh Elders, his face’_ as he cracked up.

But then abruptly, he fell silent, as if an invisible hand had placed itself on his mouth. Frank sniffed the air. Almost immediately, Percy turned to the door.

“What do they think they’re doing?” Percy asked aloud. “Coming like this, unreported, in a Vampire territory.” He snarled.

Nico could only guess who they were talking about. The Werewolves. They were here, in Percy’s territory and they hadn’t warned the Vampires of their presence.

Within a few seconds, Nico could see in the distance as dust shimmered in the air and a pack of massive wolves came sprinting. They stopped at a respectable distance from the house, where they immediately transformed into humans again.

Nico hoped his sister wasn’t among them.

Nico should’ve known nothing went according to his wishes.

The others stayed back as only three figures made their way closer to the house, walking in an unhurried pace. The one in the centre was just a little girl, not much older than twelve. She had shiny silver blond hair and fair skin that shone from a distance. She wore a polo-neck with loose camo pants. Nico knew her. Artemis, the leader of the pack.

The other two girls followed closely behind her. One of them had jet black hair, tipped with blue. Thalia. He remembered. That was Jason’s sister. She looked younger than Jason did. Nico’d guess she was sixteen.

The other girl had long hair, plaited in a beautiful braid which rested on her shoulder. Her face was quite similar to Nico’s. She looked just like she had when she’d left him. Young. Independent. Thirteen. Nico felt the panic rise in him.

Percy turned to him. “All right there, Nico?” he asked, worry in his eyes.

Of course, Percy was able to listen to his increased heartbeats. Nico took a deep breath as he nodded to him.

The three of them drew closer, walking as if in a peaceful procession till they reached the door.

“Artemis.” Percy growled. “What a pleasant surprise.”

Artemis gave him a tight lipped smile. “Urgent business, Perseus.” He eyes briefly flitted over to Nico. “May we?” She asked.

Grudgingly, Percy invited her inside. Nico could see his fist clenched and his teeth grit tightly. Percy’s fangs peaked from behind his lips.

They settled themselves on the couch with Artemis on the middle and the other two girls flanking her either side. Nico avoided looking at them.

Frank, Leo and Jason were near the door. Percy and Hazel sat on the other couch. Nico stood awkwardly behind Percy, before Percy beckoned him to sit beside him.

“Speak of you business, Artemis.” Percy’s voice was cold. “I do not appreciate intruders in my territory.”

Artemis ignored the jab. “There are two things that needed dire attention. The first one being the issue of your previous mate returning to New York.”

Nico blanched. Previous mate? Percy had a mate before him? Why hadn’t he told him?

Percy’s lips thinned. “We know of Luke. We also know he is gathering an army once more.”

Nico stiffened. Luke was Percy’s ex-mate?

“We have reasons to believe someone from your coven is aiding him.” Artemis added. Her blue eyes were cold. “Perhaps you?”

Percy snarled. “Are you implying I’m allying with Luke?”

“I’m not implying anything. I’m merely hinting that it could be anyone among your coven, Perseus.” Artemis said. The two girls on her side remained quiet, as if not given the permission to speak. “Besides, you’d know, wouldn’t you? He was your mate once.”

“Luke never was my mate.” Percy stated coldly.

“He always believed otherwise, Perseus.”

“I don’t care what he believed. We were never mates, we never bonded.”

Artemis gave Percy a smile. There was nothing warm about it. “That’s a relief then. It would’ve been a pain to take down your entire coven.”

“You can try.” Percy said. It was a warning. Even Nico could gather that Artemis was pushing her luck, insulting a coven leader in his own territory. Nico had never liked her.

Artemis shrugged. “Now that the easy part is done, let’s move to the second topic of our discussion.” He eyes held Nico’s. “You have a mortal in your midst, Perseus.”

Nico shrunk back in his seat. Percy’s eyes steeled. Nico secretly loved that look on Percy, even when it intimidated him. Percy looked almost like some deity- powerful and beautiful.

“That is none of your concern.”

“It actually is.” There was mirth in her eyes. “Nico, it’s been a long time, huh? How are you?”

Nico grew still. He hadn’t expected to be addressed directly. His answer came out bolder than he felt. “A very long time, indeed, Artemis. And I’m just wonderful, you know, ever since my sister abandoned me.”

Bianca shifted in her seat. “I didn’t abandon you, Nico!” she cried out. “I asked you to come with me. You declined.”

There was venom in Nico’s voice when he replied. “I had no interest in living like a nomad, Bianca.” Nico saw Percy stifling a smirk. “Besides, don’t pretend to care about me. I told you that I won’t go with you and you just ran off. Leaving me behind with no one else.”

Nico knew he should’ve told this to Percy beforehand. It was going to be very difficult to explain why he hadn’t said that his sister was a werewolf.

Bianca looked green in her face. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t care about you Nico! But I had my own life as well. Just because you were born as a normal didn’t mean I had to look after you all my life.” She spat back.

“I was only ten years old, Bianca.” Nico said, his voice breaking. He didn’t know when he had stood up or when he had started screaming at his sister. “I was only ten. I could barely flip even a pancake. But you didn’t care of all that. It’s been eight years since, Bianca. You still don’t care today.”

“Don’t be sour with me because you couldn’t be a werewolf, Nico. You were sore about it then, and you’re sore about it even now. You would’ve understood if you were a werewolf.”

Hazel stared at Nico. “You could’ve been a werewolf?” she asked, astounded.

Nico averted his eyes. “Yes. My mother.” He gave a pointed look to Bianca. “Our mother. She was a werewolf. Bianca inherited her genes. I didn’t. She could turn into a werewolf since she was eight. I couldn’t.”

Artemis sat back and watched, waiting patiently for her chance to speak. She found it when Bianca, for a loss of words, just stared agape.

“So you couldn’t handle that you weren’t like your sister. That you were ordinary. Is that why you were willing to have vampires keep you? Because you wanted to belong to the supernatural world?” Artemis said.

Nico felt his throat dry. He had never thought of it this way. He had avoided Percy in high school with one hope. He’d hoped to never be dragged back into the supernatural realm. But apparently, it was impossible for fates to not complicate his life.

Percy interjected before he could speak. His eyes were burning now, shining golden. He stood in front of Nico, slightly shielding him from the werewolves.

“Artemis.” He addressed her coldly. “You will not speak to my mate in that tone. Just because you have the natural authority to protect humans, doesn’t mean you can threaten one. I am warning you, leave Nico alone. In everything you have to say, I expect politeness. Or else… I do not think I need to explain what a vampire does when his mate is threatened.”

Nico couldn’t help the flush crawling over his skin. Having Percy call him his mate always drew Nico to this state of borderline insanity where he could think of nothing else but sinking into Percy’s arms. He placed a hand on Percy’s forearm, trying to pacify him.

Artemis seemed unaffected. “Perseus, do not get me wrong. I was just saying that you need to stop hoarding humans. You have already acquainted your coven with Rachel Dare. And now, Nico di Angelo. We only want to make sure that you properly understand the staunch necessity for secrecy from the humans. The others feel threatened by your coven’s inability to keep the mortals away.”

“The others?” Hazel questioned.

“The other vampires, wolves and even warlocks, Ms, Levesque.” Artemis replied.

“I can assure you, none of the warlocks feel threatened, Artemis.” Hazel said. “We procreate with the mortals, in case you are forgetting.”

“An unwise choice, Ms. Levesque. Nonetheless, you don’t seem to be among those of your kin to favour mortals.” Artemis gave a sidelong glance to Frank, who stood by the door.

“I feel your business here is done, Artemis.” Percy said. His tone was impassive. His hard gold eyes motioned to the door. “You are no longer welcome on my territory, wolf.”

Artemis bristled. Perhaps she hadn’t expected this sudden dismissal. She turned to leave, without a goodbye. Nico thought it was probably better that she didn’t.

Before she went through the door, however, she turned briefly. “There’s a mole in your coven, Percy. I hope you get rid of them as soon as possible.”

Within seconds, they had transformed back into wolves and faded into the dust, with the rest of the pack following behind them.

Thalia hadn’t interacted with Jason at all. Maybe that was the way it was. Your loyalty to your kin mattered more than your loyalty to your own blood.

Frank was murmuring something to Hazel, stroking her hair softly. Leo and Jason just stared at each other, as if engaged in some silent dialogue.

Nico turned to Percy. He had to clear any misunderstanding.

“Percy, I’m really sorry. I wanted to tell you that my sister was a werewolf but-”

Percy cupped his cheek. “I knew, Nico.”

“You knew?” Nico said, incredulous. “You- why didn’t you say anything?”

“Rachel had dreams about your meeting with Artemis when you were a child. Even your sister was there in the dream. She couldn’t tell me what exactly had occurred, but I guessed it for myself.” Percy said. “And I wanted you to be comfortable with the truth to tell me. If you wanted it to be in the past, didn’t want to relive those memories, then I wasn’t going to push you.”

Nico hugged Percy, embracing his cold body with his warmer one. Percy sighed in his ear.

“Thank you, Percy. My past is something I’m not very eager to think of.” He drew back from the hug. Percy’s eyes had darkened again.

“You look flushed, Nico.” Percy said, with a smirk on his face.

“Do I?” Nico asked, breathlessly. He leaned to brush his lips against Percy’s.

Percy’s eyes fluttered, the simple touch having a more intense effect on him. His lips parted to capture Nico’s plump ones in them. He’d almost forgotten that his fangs were still visible; they brushed against Nico’s lips, drawing blood.

Nico gasped in Percy’s mouth at the little sting Percy’s fangs gave him. Percy moaned, he could taste Nico’s blood from his lips and it was exquisite. His tongue lapped against the blood, drawing more of it as Nico’s hands fisted in his hair.

His hands encompassed Nico, almost lifting him off the ground. Nico moaned louder as he brushed his tongue against Percy’s, tasting the metallic taste of his own blood.  His breathing grew ragged and his chest heaved as he struggled to breathe and kiss Percy at the same time.

He drew back, gasping for air. His legs dangled in the air as Percy held him.

“Upstairs.” He breathed heavily.

Percy smirked. “Hold tight.” Nico brought his legs at Percy’s waist and arms around his neck, bending just enough to suck on his collar bone. Nico could hear Percy groaning above him.

In a jiff, Percy carried him up to their bedroom, closing the door behind him with a loud bang, as he pinned Nico down on the bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment and kudos are much appreciated!
> 
> Also, I take requests for stories. Feel free to prompt me, as long as its not Bottom!percy.  
> Find me on tumblr,  
> [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)


	7. Bond

** Chapter 7: Bond **

Percy stared at him as if he were the most exquisite thing in the world. His eyes were so dark that it would be a shame to call them something as simple as black. His fangs peeked at the corner of his lips, gleaming white as the moist pink tongue darted out to taste his mate’s skin.

Naked and completely exposed to just Percy’s eyes, Nico felt a sense of vulnerability creep over him which was very different from everything else. He lay bare, caged to the bed by Percy’s domineering frame. His hands were pinned at his sides over his head and legs were spread apart just enough for Percy to settle between them.

There were no words spoken, no whispers. There were only the sounds of gasps and ragged breaths as Percy’s cold hands touched Nico in places he had only imagined.

Nico reacted beautifully to Percy’s touch, moaning at the right places, arching at the right touches. His head was thrown to the side, hair dishelved and lips parted as Percy ran a cold hand down his body to his hips. Nico’s hips were shaking around Percy’s head as they were bent to his stomach, revealing the fluttering pink hole.

Nico’s hands were fisted in his hair, long ago having given up on the quest to touch himself. It wasn’t like Percy was going to allow that to him anytime soon either. He could only pull at his dark hair, close his eyes and moan as the vampire claimed his unmarked skin for himself.

His legs shook in anticipation as Percy bent down, eye-level with his hole. Nico bated his breaths; Percy didn’t move. He just stared the pale, smooth expanse of Nico’s skin. Nico’s cock was flushed the most beautiful shade of red at the tip. His fingers danced in ghost touches on the sensitised skin, making Nico whimper out the loveliest sound of his name.

“P-percy… Percy, please…” he whispered with his eyes squeezed shut, biting his lip when his mate nipped at his thighs. He was aching now, but Percy wouldn’t touch him there.

Percy’s tongue lapped briefly at Nico’s thighs, tasting the light sheen of sweat, before locking his eyes with Nico’s half-lidded ones and biting at the underside of his thighs with no qualms.

Nico gave out a startled cry, thrashing on the bed, as Percy’s teeth sunk into his skin. He could hear the low suckling noise that Percy’s lips made as his crimson blood was consumed. He could feel a fleeting burn where the fangs pierced his skin. He could see only Percy’s darkened eyes, staring right at him, as the vampire devoured him for all he was worth.

His toes curled as the prickle of pain made way for pleasure and his body started rocking of its own accord, begging silently to be drawn closer to Percy’s touch. He was only half-aware of the cries falling from his lips, barely coherent as his legs shook from the wave of pleasure as Percy’s tongue lapped at the drops of blood trickling down his legs.

He didn’t need to be touched after all. Percy’s eyes were sensuous enough to have him arching his back as he came in thick white spurts across his chest.

He was still coming, riding his high, when Percy’s fangs left his skin. Nico managed a weak shudder when Percy’s lips closed over the little marks and sucked and licked them close.  His legs were lowered on the bed with careful hands.

His lips were claimed in a soft kiss, something he greedily accepted. His hands clawed at Percy’s hair hungrily, pulling him closer and hoisting a leg around his waist

“Need you.” Nico whispered, breathing in Percy’s scent. The smell of sea breeze and damp earth made him dizzy as Percy tore his shirt and touched his bare skin to Nico’s. “Percy, please.” He pleaded, running his hands through Percy’s hair as Percy nipped at every sensitive spot he could find.

Nico’s fingers trailed down Percy’s chest, making Percy growl as he nuzzled Nico’s chest. His fingers stroked Percy’s clothed erection and Percy bit his nipple in retaliation. Nico arched up, rubbing his half-hard cock against Percy’s. Nico was still sensitive and the friction with Percy’s jeans made him claw at Percy’s shoulders with his nails, leaving crescents across his back.

Percy hissed, but sounded more pleased than pained at the idea of his mate ruining his skin. He shifted so that he could reach between their bodies and unzipped his pants. Nico’s fingers delved inside and tentatively touched his hardness. Nico’s dark eyes were questioning as they held Percy’s gaze, asking silently for permission to go ahead.

Percy sighed as Nico’s nimble fingers lightly stroked him to hardness. He lurched up when Nico’s fingers started thumbing at his slit and the underside of his cock. He was well aware of the noiseless gasps that Nico let out every-time Percy ground against him.

Percy sensed that Nico was deliberately increasing the speed of his strokes, because he himself was falling apart. He could see the signs clearly, too- Nico’s eyes, closed in pleasure and his lips parting to form a silent moan. Percy himself was nearing his edge rapidly.

He deftly removed Nico’s hand from his jeans and bit Nico’s earlobe. Nico shuddered under him. “Patience, Nico.” He whispered. His words were a smooth caress of cool air on Nico’s heated skin. Ne made quick work of his pants and dumped them at the edge of the bed and climbed back over Nico.

Under him, Nico was spread out for him like a feast: flushed skin damp with sweat, cherubic lips parted as a tongue darted out to moisten them, chest covered with light pink bruises, bites and marks from Percy’s fangs, his legs spread wide open to accommodate Percy between them and the cherry on the cake- Nico’s hard cock which was leaking all over his stomach.

Percy thought that he’d have died right there if he hadn’t been already dead. He had an actual angel in his bed, willingly waiting for his touch. In that moment, he also realized how much more powerful he was than Nico.

The hesitation must’ve shown on his face, for Nico’s eyes formed an unspoken question and his hand stroked his cheek as if for an answer.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He whispered to the boy beneath him. He had never spoken anything that was as true as the statement and the emotion in him to protect and to cherish every crevice of his mate.

“I trust you.” Nico whispered back, stroking his cheek tenderly. Percy leaned in the comforting touch. He could smell his mate’s faith and also the desperation. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

Percy’s movements after hearing those words were almost in a trance-like gesticulation. He leaned down to place a passion filled kiss on Nico’s lips as he teased Nico’s hole with his fingers, stroking the rim with barely-there touches.

Nico whimpered in the kiss, wanting nothing more than Percy’s fingers in him.

Percy broke the kiss with a smirk. He was very smug about the fact that Nico trusted him so openly. “Shush now, little one.” He whispered. He pressed two fingers at Nico’s lips. “Wet them nicely for me, Nico.”

A light blush spread on Nico’s cheeks even as his tongue gave hesitant kitten licks to Percy’s fingers. He pressed them slowly in Nico’s mouth, loving the way his lips slipped over them. Nico wasn’t naïve; he knew what Percy meant. He swirled his tongue around the two fingers, enjoying the weight of them against his tongue. He slowly started bobbing his head as he lapped Percy’s fingers, watching intently as Percy’s eyes darkened impossibly in lust.

Percy tapped his cheek with his other hand. “That’s enough.” He said, sounding like a breathless human teenager.  He took his fingers out and trailed them south and pushed them in without any warning.

Nico groaned in the mixed sensation of pain and pleasure and gripped Percy’s arm as his gingers twisted inside him.

“Is is hurting?” Percy asked, lips still curved in a arrogant smirk. Nico heard the undertones of genuine concern in them anyway.

Nico shook his head. It wasn’t even uncomfortable in the slightest. Gods knew how many times Nico had touched himself like that, imagining his lover doing the same to him.

Percy started moving his fingers inside Nico, careful to not stretch him too much all at once. He took his time, enjoying the little gasps and groans that fell from Nico’s lips. It was a while before he added his third finger and by that time, Nico was begging him to have mercy on him and fuck him.

“Percy please please please…” Nico moaned as the fingers started scissoring him as they pushed in and out. “Please, Percy. I need you.” With that Nico pulled Percy down to kiss him heatedly and Percy decided it was enough teasing from his part. He groped around the nightstand for the bottle of lube he was sure he’d placed there and spread a generous amount on his cock.

Percy hoped he wasn’t wrong but there was something more than affection in Nico’s eyes as he pressed the tip of his cock inside Nico and sheathed himself slowly inside. Nico’s eyes scrunched shut and his head turned to his left, hair spilling all over the pillow as he bit his lip.

Percy paused once he was all the way inside. The initial discomfort of the act couldn’t be helped. But it could be lessened. His fingers pressed against his bite on the underside of Nico’s thighs and Nico jerked as if hit by lightening.  Nico let out a low moan as Percy stroked the sore skin lightly and started thrusting slowly.

Nico’s body moved up and down the duvet as Percy started moving inside him, the force of his thrusts making the entire bed creak and the headboard bang against the wall. Nico steadied himself by winding his legs around Percy’s waist which made Percy reach deeper inside him with every thrust. His hands encircled Percy’s neck and Percy pressed his nose at the juncture of his jaw, smelling the scent of his mate through their mating.

Nico was clinging to Percy to keep himself from being thrown around the bed like a doll. He had unconsciously bitten down on Percy’s neck and was sucking the faint bruise on the flawless skin to keep his screams from spilling out.

Percy’s hands were gripping Nico’s waist as he snapped his hips wildly as he pounded inside his mate. He had no time for slow vanilla sex; at the moment, he only craved to mate hard and fast with his Nico.

He was babbling something in Nico’s ears but he was too far gone in the moment to notice. He could feel Nico’s cock as it was stroked by the friction of their moving bodies, could feel the moans through his skin where Nico had his lips pressed. His hips started pistoning faster on their own accord and Nico’s head fell back in utter pleasure as Percy’s cock grazed his prostate again and again and again with dead accuracy.

Moans and pants heaved out of Nico’s mouth. He, too, was in a stage of incoherency where he could only feel and not speak. He didn’t want anything more than the sweet release that was already promised to him by the wild look in Percy’s eyes, his possessive grip on his skin and speed with which he thrust in and out of his willing body.

Nico’s cock was leaking between the two bodies and Nico didn’t doubt for one second that he wouldn’t have to touch himself to gain completion. And he was right; Percy pressed his waist down just right so that only his hips were in air as he thrust wildly in Nico. Nico’s lips found Percy and they kissed messily, with tongues tangling just like their bodies as they went over the edge together.

Driven by the intensity of his orgasm, Percy bit Nico’s lip and pulled it hard enough for blood to flow from Nico’s mouth into his. Nico, who was too lost in his throes of passion to notice that his mouth was no longer covered by Percy’s, was moaning loudly as his body spasmed with his orgasm.

When Nico finally opened his eyes, he found Percy intently watching him with an expression of fondness. When Percy shifted, he could feel exactly how sore he was going to be for the next few days. Percy gently pulled out of his hole, groaning as a trickle of his come followed his cock and trickled down Nico’s thighs.

And then Nico was suddenly turned onto his stomach. Nico let out a surprised gasp as his body ached everywhere. Behind him, Percy nuzzled his nose in his hair as he lifted Nico’s hips up.

“Percy-” Nico started, eyes widening when the tip of Percy’s cock pressed inside him again. In one single thrust, Percy was inside him once more. Nico was very sensitive from his two orgasms and moaned from overstimulation. “It’s too much. Oh Gods!” he screamed as Percy gave a sharp thrust.

Percy pressed soothing kisses on his neck. “Nico, we are also called creatures of lust.” Nico shivered as he heard the words, accentuated with unconcealed desire. Percy’s fingers rubbed sensually over Nico’s sides. “If you think I’m going to let you move from this bed before the next sun rises, you are completely mistaken.”

* * *

By the time Percy was done, Nico was already drifting between mortal stages of consciousness. Percy, thankfully noticing his lack of super-human stamina and the need for sleep, had stopped fucking him in the early hours of the morning.

When Nico woke up the next morning, he wasn’t surprised to find the bed empty on Percy’s side. Not needing sleep even when you were as old as the beginning of time was a pretty good deal. Nico yawned and stretched himself, before wining as his body protested vehemently to every small movement. He promptly let his head roll back on the pillow and tried to sleep through the spasms of pain.

He couldn’t sleep. Blame it on Percy or his lack of post-sex care, Nico was only able to limp to the bathroom before he almost collapsed on the cold toilet seat. The coolness was foreign to his sore ass, which was still reminding him, through short bursts of pain, where all Percy had bitten and gripped him roughly.

Oh boy, he’d slept with a fiend last night.

And even though he’d felt great in his throes of passion, he regretted every single decision in his life that had led him to the point of actually bedding a vampire.

It was half an hour later when Nico emerged from the bathroom, having done nothing besides wash his face and brush his teeth. He wanted to take a shower, but his condition would’ve most probably led him to sitting on the shower floor till he’d have fallen asleep in the steady stream of hot water.

Finding his clothes was a greatly difficult task, especially as his eyesight was somehow playing tricks on him and he couldn’t find his clothes in Percy’s room without having to crouch down to look for them.

When he was finally dressed somewhat acceptably, he ran a hand through his messed up dark curls and limped downstairs to console his growling stomach with food.

Rachel and Leo- a very odd combination to witness the first thing in the morning- were seated on the couch, each drinking something from a mug. Nico could smell coffee. His stomach growled in annoyance at not being fed something immediately. He reached quietly for an apple on the counter in the kitchen.

He mentally marked a few things on his _to-do_ list:

  1. Make some hot chocolate
  2. Study algebra
  3. Fuss about his hair
  4. Ignore Bianca
  5. Switch his phone on



He didn’t remember when he had switched it off, although there was a huge possibility of it being discharged.

He also made a mental _not_ _to-do_ list and scribbled just one name in his mind: Percy Jackson.

* * *

 

“They mated?” Luke said, disbelief laced in his tone.

“Yes, lord.” His blond pet said, bowing their head. It wasn’t uncommon among Vampires to be humble to those who were older. Sometimes, it was even out of necessity. “Last night.”

Luke’s hands stroked their soft skins together, nearing them to ecstasy without even touching their sexes. “How can you be so sure?”

The blond moan under him, writing as Luke’s hands wandered down. “I’m sure. The entire coven heard their little love-making throughout the night.”

Luke paused. “The entire night?” he stared at something in the distance. “Nothing special?” he laughed cynically. “If anyone can put up with Percy’s sex-drive for an entire night, even with their mortal body, that wench has to be fucking special.”

Luke pushed two fingers in his lover, twisting them suddenly. The blond underneath him moaned, bucking into their lord’s body as they came. Luke wiped his hand on the blond’s thigh. “Leave now.” He snarled. “You have your patrol duty.”

The blonde whimpered lightly at his dismissal. He complied within seconds, rushing out in a blur of golden hair and pale skin.

Luke looked at the other person in the room, who stood by the window nursing a glass of rich crimson. “Ethan.” He called out to his dark haired lover.

Ethan turned. He didn’t like to be near Luke after he’d been with someone. Not when the scent of Luke’s almost coupling still hung in the air.

“What do you want?” he snarled back as a response, not scared of the feral look in Luke’s eyes.

“I want you.” Luke stated, his blue eyes darkening as he looked at his mate.

Ethan snorted. “Oh dear, I thought you’d have already reached your peak by fantasizing about your non-mate ex-mate and his current mate.” He tipped his glass and drowned all the blood in it in one go. “I don’t want you. Not when you’re still lusting over that weak-willed mortal loving bastard.”

Luke smirked. “You obscure my hatred with my past afflictions with him; I want to see him pay, Ethan.” His voice softened. “I was lost for a while after he let me go willingly. I thought he’d stop me, but he didn’t because we were never meant to be. But then I found you. I found my life, my purpose. I won’t throw it away, my mate, just because you can’t shake off the uncertainty of my loyalty.”

Luke’s eyes steeled as he crossed the room within a second. He gripped Ethan’s cheek in his fingers, stroking the smooth skin. “You are the only being I want, Ethan. I know you feel it through our bond.”

Ethan didn’t answer; he looked away into the night.

Undeterred, Luke unzipped the fine leather of his jeans with his teeth. He had half a mind of tearing it with his fangs, but he paused because Ethan loved them and Luke loved Ethan in them. He pulled out his mate’s hardness and engulfed it in his mouth.

He gave long stripes tot the base, before tonguing the tip. His fingers pressed on the mating bond at Ethan’s hip. Ethan jerked, unable to contain the helpless moan spilling out of his lips. His hand twisted in Luke’s radiant hair, stars shining behind his eyes as he marked his mate’s lips with his release.

He wanted this. Wanted this all for himself. Luke was all his. Not Percy’s. Not that blond hoe’s.

“I want revenge, Ethan.” Luke said, peppering kisses on his neck. “And I can’t have that if I only attack Percy’s coven. I need to attack his mate, because right now, his mortality is Percy’s biggest loss.”

Ethan had no personal vengeance against Percy Jackson. But if he had to destroy him to have a peaceful eternity with his mate, then so be it.

He wanted it all with Luke and he couldn’t have it as long as Percy wasn’t burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment and kudos are much appreciated!
> 
> Also, I take requests for stories. Feel free to prompt me, as long as its not Bottom!percy.
> 
> Talk to me about anything, PJO and everthing
> 
> Find me on tumblr,  
> [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)


	8. Liars

** Chapter 8: Liars **

To be fair, Percy had warned him that he could lose control. He had told Nico, once, twice, multiple times that he was so madly craving their mating that he’d come close to turning Nico.

If Nico had said that he hadn’t been scared by that, he’d lied. Percy had seen that fear in his eyes, in his sleepy mumbling to make Percy stop.

Truth be told, he was fucking terrified of what would happen if Percy _did_ completely lose control and didn’t stop till he was a creature of the night. If Percy hadn’t stopped yesterday when he had, Nico would’ve been either a Vampire or dead.

Percy didn’t want that. He wanted Nico to be with him forever, yes, but not if he was going to be unhappy about it. He wasn’t going to turn Nico out of the blue and expect him to be his happy vampire bride. He wanted Nico to want what he wanted; if he wanted to be a mortal and keep aging and decaying, well, Percy would still love him through it.

He still didn’t know a lot about Nico. He only knew Nico’s past from the dreams Rachel had been having for the past few days.

He’d already known about Bianca and how she’d left Nico when she joined the pack. If Percy had known that his mate was in such close vicinity, and was hurting, he’d have burned down the entire house before Nico could’ve. It made sense why Nico wanted to keep away from the supernaturals.

He wanted nothing to do with the Werewolves, because they’d abandoned him when he had not presented as a werewolf. He wanted nothing to do with the Vampires, because even though he wasn’t a werewolf, running around with their enemies was always seen as a disappointing act.

Percy was sure that Nico was around them for so long because he was intrigued by the coven. He doubted that Nico would’ve trusted him as easily as he had had it not been for Hazel’s sisterly guidance and Leo’s mischief, which made them seem like a family than a coven. Even though Nico was weary of Octavian because of his snide attitude and wasn’t very friendly with Annabeth because of their initial meeting, Percy was actually confounded by his mistrust in Rachel.

Rachel wasn’t exactly warm with Nico, either.

And Percy didn’t like that neither them talked to him about it. The only two mortals in his coven barely tolerated each other.

He himself was unable to decipher a few of Rachel’s dreams, but that didn’t mean he didn’t trust Nico. He guessed he’d have to blame it on his bond with Nico.

Percy smiled as he looked down at the sleeping boy beside him. Nico’s one arm was flung on his chest while his legs tangled with Percy’s under the covers. Raven locks covered his forehead and the pillow as his chest heaved gently in his slumber.

 _Boyfriend_ , in mortal terms.

 _Mate_ , in immortal realms.

* * *

 

Nico smiled at Hazel as she handed him a mug of hot chocolate.

“He’ll be right back, Nico.” Hazel said, speaking about Percy. Then a playful smile appeared on her face. “None of us expected you to be up so early, especially as mortal energy needs a lot of time to recharge.”

Nico flushed. “Percy did all the work; I was just enjoying myself without straining.”

Hazel laughed and Nico saw a teenager trying to escape from her smile. Gods knew how long Hazel had been a teenager. “Oh, we all heard you flipping Percy on his back and-”

Just then, someone kissed Nico’s cheek. The bruise on the back of his thighs tingled.

“Oh, it was heavenly.” Percy said, joining Nico near the counter. He had a smug smile on his face as he traced a finger on the purple bruises on Nico’s pale throat. The mug shook in Nico’s hands. Hazel suppressed a smirk as Nico admonished Percy with his eyes.

“How’re you feeling?” Percy asked him softly.

Nico groaned. “Fuck you.” He said, before he sipped the hot chocolate and the creases on his forehead loosened. “I’m aching all over. Did you forget I was your mate last night? Because you chewed on me like a candy bar.”

Hazel snorted. “He’ll heal you with his heavenly tongue.”

Nico looked alarmed. “Oh, hell no! That thing is not coming anywhere near me.”

Percy laughed and looked at him as if he was a naïve child. “But Nico…” he pouted. “Vampire venom has healing properties.”

“Oh.”

“Remember when I healed Annabeth’s bite on your wrist?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought-” Nico blushed twenty shades of crimson as he paused. “Nevermind.”

Percy smirked. He was going to help Nico heal very nicely, indeed.

* * *

 

Rachel shifted in her seat in art class. She could feel Nico’s eyes on her from the opposite end of the classroom. She couldn’t concentrate on the tomatoes she was supposed to be painting. They looked like anaemic plums.

She was still convinced that Nico was going to betray the coven in some way; her dreams never lied. She remembered the images from her dreams so vividly- Nico talking with Luke; Nico fighting with Octavian; Annabeth and Reyna snarling at their coven leader’s mate; Nico standing in Luke’s inner circle; Nico challenging Percy from the other side in the war.

Sometimes, seeing the glimpses of future made you ignore certain thing in the present. She just failed to see the coven’s infatuation with Nico. If she was any other mortal, she’d been jealous if some other mortal being had taken her place in the coven as the apple of their eye.

But she was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She hosted the oracle’s spirit. Immortals, and the mortals who knew of her abilities, always consulted her. She had a gift that came without her being someone’s mate. She had nothing to be jealous of. She even had all the money in the world she wanted; her father was one of the world’s biggest business tycoons, who had gifted a helicopter on her sixteenth birthday when ordinary children demanded their parents some low budget car.

Rachel had nothing to be jealous of. She had everything to be _careful_ of.

If everyone was going to play Nico’s favourite, there had to be someone who wouldn’t lick off Nico’s adorable mortality and boyish naivety. She’d be the villain, so long as she knew she’d be the one whose guesses turned into facts in the end.

Nico could stare her all he wanted; Rachel could handle him even in her sleep.

After the class was over, when Nico lingered at the door for her, she almost rolled her eyes.

Nico looked back to normal after missing two days of classes and spending most of the time being holed up in the coven’s house and Percy’s arms. His bruises had healed incredibly and only a faint scar along his collar remained which was quite unnoticeable.

“Percy wants us to talk.” He said before Rachel could even open her mouth. She raised an eyebrow. Nico shrugged. “He wants us to bond.”

Rachel did roll her eyes this time. “Not gonna happen.” She said simply.

Nico laughed uneasily. “Why do you dislike me so?”

Rachel turned her green eyes on him, pinning him under the unflinching stare. “I know things about the future that makes me see things differently than most others.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me the questions for the Chemistry test this Friday.” Nico tried to joke.

Rachel smiled coldly. “Don’t worry your little head by studying. You’re going to be absent that day.” With that she strode outside and disappeared with her red hair flaming behind her.

Nico’s mind whirled with the possibilities of what could cause his absence from school on Friday. He had already missed two days in the week. One more day would make it a poor weekly attendance.

Nico sighed as he willed himself to think about Mrs Dodd’s homework instead. Maybe, Rachel was just messing with him. He saw no reason to trust her.

He reached his locker, trying to shake the image in his mind of him and Percy doing _things_ that would quite conveniently make him miss the classes on Friday. He slammed his head on his locker and wincing immediately. He might’ve bedded an immortal, but that hadn’t made him immune to the pain of bashing his head into the metal lockers.

He pressed the combination and opened his locker, rubbing his head with one hand. A paper fluttered to the ground and Nico jumped back in surprise. He’d seen enough movies to know the mystery these anonymous secretly posted letters presented. He couldn’t help his curiosity as he unfolded the small piece of paper.

He knew the handwriting. It had been years since he’d seen it. He braced himself before reading what was written.

Meet me @ Janus’ Crossroad Street.

Friday. 10 am.

It’s v. imp. Tell no one. Come alone.

 

Nico read the letter again and again, tearing it to shreds when he had it memorized. _Come alone_ was may-a-times bait for the Hollywood killings or kidnappings. But even as Nico indulged himself in weighing the pros and cons of going to meet his werewolf sister, alone without anyone knowing, he had already decided that he was going to do just that.

There went his Friday. So he wouldn’t be having rough sex with Percy on Thursday night after all. Nico couldn’t believe the disappointment he felt at the mere thought. Trust his sister to cockblock him without even realising it. Or maybe she’d done it on purpose. 

Nico banged his locker shut. These immortals were going to be the death of him.

Percy wasn’t going to like this. So, Nico wasn’t going to tell him. Simple.

* * *

 

Piper could charmspeak her way out of most things. Almost always. Almost everyone. Except Octavian, Because that bastard could always read her whenever she was about to charmspeak him.

So, she was pretty put off when Percy didn’t listen to her and barred her from going to the National Museum of History.

“But Percy!” she pouted. “The entire class is going. Even that cute guy I told Hazel about, what’s-his-name Samuels, is gonna be there too! It’s on next Wednesday, so you have an entire week to decide.”

Percy didn’t even look up from the Latin he was supposed to be revising. He knew everything about that language, but it couldn’t hurt to brush up on the topic. “No.” he said simply.

“Nico is going, too.” She whined. “Rachel is going. And even Frank and Hazel are going.”

“Nico is graduating for the first time, Piper. I’m not going to stop him from having a little history trip. And I have nothing to bother Rachel on that day.”

“But Hazel and Frank-”

“-are the ones Nico trusts and the strongest for keeping him safe in a room full of other mortals without making a spectacle.”

Piper sniffled. Frank could just shape-shift into a bloody wolf and carry Nico outside or Hazel could cast illusion charms to hide Nico in case of an attack. Even so, Nico would be better protected with the three of them. So, Piper had to go.

“I don’t even have patrol duty that day.”

Percy closed his book and sighed. “I need my best girls on that day.”

Piper scowled. “Is that flattery? Go tell that to Jason.”

“No, he has patrol duty that day. I need you, Annabeth and Reyna with me.”

“So, Jason, Leo and Octavian are patrolling that day?” Piper frowned. Why didn’t Percy want Leo? If he was going to be dealing with vampires, Leo was a far better choice because of his pyrotechnics’ ability. He could burn down any threat, as the vampires could be killed if only burnt.

Percy looked behind her and smiled. “Leo will be guarding the house. Jason and Octavian will be patrolling.” He placed the book in his bag as he got up. The smile had lost its warmth. “We’re meeting Luke next Wednesday.”

Piper’s eyes shone in a myriad of colours. “Luke? Why?”

Percy shrugged. “He requested to meet.”

Percy always gave people second chances. Even if he was dealing with someone like Luke.

Piper’s lips thinned. “Does Nico know?”

Percy’s eyes flashed. “No. Only the coven is to know about this, which is why I’m not against Nico going to the museum visit.”

“You shouldn’t keep this from him.” Piper said. Keeping Nico in the dark like this was going to be disastrous, especially if he thought that Percy hid it from him because he didn’t trust Nico. “I thought Nico is a part of the coven, too.”

Percy narrowed his eyes dangerously and Piper found herself agreeing against her will. “Nico will know nothing about this. If all goes well, I’ll tell Nico about it myself after the meeting is done with.” Percy was using his authoritive tone- the _Sire’s_ tone- which made it near impossible to disobey him. Piper gritted her teeth, but nodded.

* * *

 

Nico smiled at Percy as he kissed his shoulder. Leo was lazily draped on the sofa across them, leaning on Jason’s chest as he browsed dragon games on his laptop.

It was so easy to pretend that they were just teens with a heck load of money and devilishly good looks.

Reyna and Annabeth were in the kitchen, trying to make an edible dinner for him. Percy had tried to cook for him yesterday and had succeeded in making passable blue muffins for him. Nico didn’t bother to tell him that it wasn’t a proper dinner technically, because what human just ate muffins as a meal?

He furrowed into Percy’s arms as Percy nosed at his jugular.

“I’m hungry.” Percy whispered.

Nico snorted. “Go hunt someone else. Keep those fangs away from me.” He heard Percy sigh behind him.

Piper laughed. “Maybe you should hunt, Percy. It’s been almost a week since you last drank.”

“I- it doesn’t taste good enough anymore.” Percy said. “Nico has ruined every other mortal’s blood for me.”

Nico looked at Percy with wide eyes. “What? Are you going to die or something if you don’t drink my blood?”

Percy looked at him with equally worried eyes. “We shouldn’t take a risk, right Nico? I should just drink from you-” he nuzzled in the crook of Nico’s neck.

Jason and Leo guffawed loudly at the look on Nico’s face.

“No no no no. That is so not going to happen.” Nico said, crossing his arms defiantly as he shrugged Percy off him. “You still haven’t healed that bruise from where you drank last time.”

Leo chuckled. “The one on your inner thigh?”

Nico’s head snapped in his direction. “Freakish. How did you know?”

“Percy told us.” He shrugged simply.

Nico looked at Percy with blazing eyes. Percy raised his arms in mock surrender. “Look, I just didn’t want anyone– stop with the glares, already- to touch you accidently there.”

Nico’s cheeks coloured. “Why would anyone touch me on my thigh? This still doesn’t explain why you didn’t heal it right away.”

Percy smirked. “Weren’t you listening? I’m not going to heal that mark, Nico.” He shamelessly cupped Nico’s thigh, right below his bruise. He pressed it lightly, making Nico involuntarily buck in Percy’s arms. “That’s my bonding mark on you.”

And fuck, even Percy’s feather-light touch felt like fire spreading through his skin. He bit his lip, well aware of the other vampires’ gazes on him. He was faintly aware of Leo sniggering as Percy’s fingers rubbed over his sore skin once again and he whimpered. Oh, it was so difficult to hide from Percy that he was going to meet his sister.

“That makes you mine.” He whispered seductively in Nico’s ear.

Nico was sure every vampire in the house had heard Percy and also the possessiveness that laced his words. His eyes had gone darker than the night and Nico found himself leaning into his touch, unaware of what he was actually doing. He wanted to kiss Percy feverishly, wanted to also yell about how he was going behind his back to meet Bianca. He just wanted Percy to not stop, wanted-

Then there was a sudden bout of darkness as the lights in the entire house flickered and disintegrated into glass shards as if there was a high powersurge.

“Sorry.” Hazel whispered in the darkness. “Must’ve been my magic getting in the way of my fangirling.”

* * *

 

Nico found his sister on the Janus’s Crossroad quite easily. He hadn’t expected for her to be there half an hour earlier than the set time, but then again, he could never guess what his sister was going to do.

It hadn’t been difficult for Nico to sneak out of school. He’d gone with Leo and Jason to school, attended the first lecture and had snuck out with ninja-like precision. He was already subdued from an entire hour of calculus to make much noise.

Bianca was waiting near the closed bookstore, leaning on its walls carelessly while holding a coffee. Beside her was another person Nico never ever wished to meet. Artemis stood regally, back straight and chin raised, looking like a prepubescent girl-scout who took joining the army too seriously.

Bianca gave him a short smile which he didn’t return. Her lips thinned at his lack of greeting. Nico walked to them boldly, praying to every deity that the nervousness wasn’t visible on his face.

“I hope you know that I’m going to tell Percy everything as soon as we are done.” Nico said. He didn’t look at Artemis. “I am not a part of whatever Werewolf versus Vampires drama you have going on.”

Bianca smiled. She looked just like their mother when she did that. Not that Nico could remember much; he just had the photographs.

“Of course. How much are you going to tell him?”

“All of it.”

“All of it?” It was Artemis who spoke this time. “But Nico, you haven’t really been truthful to Percy all this time, have you?”

Nico sneered. “Can you not speak?” he said, flicking his hair out of his eyes. “I’m trying to get this over with.”

Artemis growled. Nico glanced at her briefly. She looked just like the wolf she was. “Don’t insult my authority, Nico.”

Nico pretended to shiver. He knew, come what may, the wolves would never hurt him physically. He was their own blood, after all. “I’m so scared.” He said. His voice turned serious. “Touch me and you’ll have an entire coven to deal with.”

Artemis smirked. “You really think that Vampires would fight for you.”

Nico had no doubt about that. “Oh, you don’t want to try them. They consider me to be a part of their coven already. Besides, Percy will not let anyone hurt his mate and get away with it.”

Artemis paused. Bianca gasped at the implication.

“He- You bonded?” Bianca asked in disbelief.

Nico smiled without humour. “I have his bond mark.”

Artemis hissed. “There is nothing to be proud about that, Nico. The fact still remains that it isn’t strong enough for you to know when your mate is leading you on.”

Nico coked his head to a side. “I’m not going to doubt Percy, Artemis. These games of yours don’t work on me.”

Bianca grasped Nico’s arm. Her face was shining as if she’d discovered the secrets of the universe. “Nico, that’s it. Just think of all the help you can give to your sisters!”

Nico narrowed his eyes. “The wolves aren’t my family, Bianca. You made it very clear that I didn’t belong with you all when you left me. Even though we share the same blood, I am not a part of your pack.” He shook off her hand from his arm.

It was true; he was born with the gene in his blood, but as he wasn’t a female, he hadn’t been able to transform into a werewolf. The gene had very incredibly manifested itself within Nico as a wall, a shield of darkness that allowed no one to get through to him.

Bianca scowled. “You’re right. The Wolves aren’t your family. But neither is the coven.” Nico tried to unsuccessfully interrupt her. Bianca carried on without letting him speak. “Do you think that they’d be happy having a half wolf in their midst? Have you told them how much of a freak force of nature you are?”

Nico gave a levelled stare to his sister. “Percy already knows about me having the gene. He won’t doubt me because of something as silly as that.”

“He doesn’t know, does he?” Artemis interjected with a smirk. “Are you afraid of how he’ll react?”

Nico was seething internally. He did not want to talk about this. “If this is all we are going talk about then I must get going. I have no time to waste listening to you whining about how Percy wouldn’t accept me.”

“Nico...” Bianca softly said as Nico turned. “You’ll not believe me when I say this, but don’t trust Percy as much as you do. He’s hiding something from you as well, Nico.”

Nico turned. “Don’t. Bianca, just don’t.”

“This Wednesday.” Bianca said, drawing closer to him. “You won’t be there when he meets Luke, will you?”

“What are you talking about? Luke is-”

“Luke offered to meet Percy and he accepted. They’re meeting this Wednesday.”

“Don’t fucking lie. Percy would never fraternize with the enemy. He cares for the coven and for their well-being more than you could possibly understand.”

Bianca smiled. “Percy doesn’t think of Luke as his enemy, Nico. There is still too much you have to learn about your bonded mate.”

Wednesday. Nico had a study tour. He knew Percy wasn’t going to be at the museum, he’d already told that to Nico. Nico knew Percy didn’t need to visit a museum to score well on History tests; Percy was practically ancient. Also, Nico and Percy weren’t in the same class.

“I don’t care.” Nico snarled, stepping back from her. “He’s giving me space and time and not forcing me for anything and I’m more than willing to extend the same courtesy to him.”

“It’s your call, Nico.” Bianca said. Artemis smirked behind her. “Be careful.”

Nico clenched his teeth. Even in the bright morning, everything seemed a tone darker for a moment. And then Nico blinked; the darkness was gone. It was as if it had been some mysterious fog, foreboding something strange.

Nico turned and blankly crossed the street. When he looked back, the two wolves were gone.

* * *

 

Saturday came and went. Sunday passed in a flurry of completing half-written assignments and essays.

Nico still hadn’t asked Percy about his Wednesday plans.

A part of him debated whether it was a good idea, because not only would he be mistrusting Percy by even thinking that he’d hide something like this from Nico, but also believing the lies of his sister. Another part of him wanted to just ask Percy outright to make things black and white again, rather than spending hours pondering about it. Maybe Percy will laugh at even the notion of him having a talk with Luke, or maybe he’d ask Nico if he was hallucinating.

Another part of him, the part whose urge was stronger than the two other contemporaries, wanted him to sleep it off.

And hence passed Monday, with Nico barely awake and groggy, as he struggled to concentrate on his classwork after overthinking about whether or not he should ask.

Tuesday evening was when Nico mustered enough resilience to ask Percy about him meeting Luke without sounding like he was accusing Percy of some conspiracy. But as the moon glowed brightly in the night, Percy came back late with his eyes a shade of golden and looking murderous. Nico’s question promptly died even before it could’ve been uttered.

With an agape mouth he watched Percy brush off a drop of blood off his shoes and tsk-ing at his own poor table manners. Nico decided that he could ask it to Percy in the morning, before he left for the study trip.

He couldn’t help himself as he placed his lips on Percy’s, enjoying the feel of Percy’s fangs digging in his tender skin as they fumbled out of their clothes in a frenzied manner without wasting much time. With Percy’s head between his legs and his head thrown back in throes of pleasure, any lingering doubt of Percy’s loyalty to him disappeared completely.

He didn’t know whose blood he tasted on Percy’s lips. He didn’t want to know. But he also couldn’t help the surge of annoyance and the primal growl which left his throat when Percy showed no intention of biting him.

“Bite me.” He whispered, as Percy peppered kisses on his chest. He tilted his neck to the side, watching Percy with hooded eyes.

Percy didn’t even pause. “You don’t want to be one of us. I can’t risk biting you there, when I doubt myself on my control.”

Nico snarled as he all but pushed Percy against the wall. “It doesn’t have to be there.” He breathed, pulling Percy’s mouth to his. “Do it anywhere. I don’t want anyone else’s taste on your lips but my own.”

Percy blinked at Nico, considering the offer before throwing caution to the wind and pulling Nico’s wrist to his and using the moment of distraction, he pushed Nico against the wall as his fangs dug in Nico’s flesh, tearing through skin and tasting nectar.

This never got old. Nico, his scent, his taste. It’s novelty was never ceasing and made Percy suck harder as Nico’s lips parted open in unending moans. His hands tightened in Percy’s hair and stayed there, as if he couldn’t decide whether to pull to closer or push him away.

Percy didn’t mind when he had to stop, sensing Nico’s shallow breaths and body writhing between the wall and Percy. His face was an expression of unriddled ecstasy as Percy worked his cock in his fist. Nico gripped on to Percy’s shoulders as he came against Percy’s skin, hot and messy and pulled Percy up for a messy kiss.

He barely registered Percy guiding him towards the bed. He was asleep even before Percy climbed in beside him just seconds later.

* * *

 

By the time Nico got dressed up, he had been served coffee, given morning kisses and had been handed hundred dollars because Percy had forgotten to make him breakfast.

“Percy, I would need, what, just twenty dollars to have a good brunch.” He said, even as Percy placed the money in his wallet.

Percy smiled. “Hazel and Frank do eat mortal food you know.”

“Sometimes.” Nico muttered.

Percy just kissed him on cheek and rubbed his fingers on the back of his thigh, where the first ever proper bite that Percy had given him was, not completely healed yet but very sensitive to anyone’s touch. Especially Percy’s.

Then, pretending as if he hadn’t just made Nico glare at him for his ill-timed touches, Percy shoo-ed him off to school.

It wasn’t until Nico was climbing the steps of the museum when he realized that he had forgotten to confront Percy about his probable meeting with Luke.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say Hi! on Tumblr [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)


	9. Rage

** Chapter 9: Rage **

He really wasn’t paying attention. His notebook was half-empty, half-filled with scribbles of pencil. It was just a jumble of his own name. He could hear the shadows whisper.

Nico **Nico** nico _Nico_ **_Nico_** NICO…

That’s all he had scribbled. In various handwritings, starting from the corner of the page to the centre and then in a border. And then in a repeated pattern inside it. And then one inside that. And again. And again. Until half the page was just his name glaring back at him.

He let out a frustrated groan.

The students in front of him turned to look. His teacher, who had paused mid-sentence while explaining some sculpture, arched an eyebrow in question.

“Is there any difficulty, Nico? Was I going too fast?” he directed the last question towards the entire class. There was a response of mumbled no’s and Nico shook his head. He drank some water and tried to concentrate.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hazel and Frank give him concerned glances. He ignored them.

Nico knew Percy had sent them to babysit him. What was he afraid of, being followed into his secret meeting with Luke? The audacity of that little leech.

_Woah, he sounded like his sister for a second there._

He tore off the page from his notebook, crumbled it in a ball and tossed it inside his bag. When he looked up, the class was already walking to another side of the room, trailing after the teacher who was still talking.

But Nico really couldn’t pay attention. His mind kept slipping back to Percy.

Was he already with Luke? What were they talking about? Were they even talking? Were they fighting about which area was whose?

Was there something else that Percy hadn’t told him about? Could it be, that Nico was the reason they were quarrelling? They didn’t know about him, did they? Surely, the only thing they might know about him was that he was Percy’s mate. But more than that, they had no chance of knowing anything about him. Unless…

No. There was nothing more to him. He was just an ordinary student with a freak sister and even freakier group of Vampire friends. He was nothing special. Luke knew nothing.

Someone nudged him in the waist. He turned.

Will Solace, with his dorky glasses and bright smile, stood beside him. “You look a little lost.” He whispered, poking him on the nose.

Nico scrunched his nose at that. Will knew he hated body contact, but somehow he always thought that he was an exception to it. Nico immediately looked behind Will, where Frank and Hazel had stood just moments ago. They weren’t there anymore.

He smiled thinly at Will. “Just stomach ache.”

Will nodded in understanding. “I heard you groaning before. Must be bad, huh?” he flung an arm around Nico’s shoulders.

Nico narrowed his eyes but didn’t brush off the heavy limb on his shoulders. Nico hummed. “Pretty bad.”

If Will was surprised by Nico’s lack of reaction, he didn’t show it. Instead he just steered them towards the next spot.

Nico did a quick survey of the crowd in front of him. They were all attentively taking notes and replying to the teacher’s questions. Hazel and Frank had not yet returned. Will was chewing gum beside him, in a state of semi-distraction. He just nodded along whenever the others nodded.

“Hey, Will.” He whispered. Will didn’t reply but briefly looked at him to convey that he was listening. “Let’s go out of here.”

Will’s eyes lit up. He was such a rebel when it came to missing history lectures. “You sure?” he enquired, because it was so unlike Nico to suggest bunking class, that too museum visits.

“Yes.” Precisely at that moment the teacher turned to point at something. Nico pulled Will, “Come on!”

Nico wasn’t very pleased when they had to hide in the cafeteria. He was really hungry and Will kept telling him to _not_ eat the sandwich he wanted to order.

“It will worsen the ache. Try something more fluid.” Will said, every time Nico saw something he wanted to get. Nico wanted to cuss at Will’s dad for being a doctor. At last he had to settle for an ice-cool lemonade, while Will noisily munched on chips beside him.

Nico looked up at the large wall clock in the cafeteria. I t looked like a museum piece itself. But there was something strange about it. He second hand wasn’t exactly stuck, it kept moving one second forward then backward. Forward. Backward. As if there was only two seconds of existence there.

“Hey, Will.” Nico started, pointing at the clock. “That looks pretty weird, doesn’t-” He looked back to Will who looked frozen. Except he wasn’t. His mouth was open, his fingers only a hairsbreadth away from his mouth with two chips held between them. His eyes were half-closed, as if he was stuck between blinking them open.

Even more horrifying was the fact that Will’s fingers kept inching forward and backward, just like the second hand of the clock.

“Pretty weird, I’d say.” Came a smooth voice from behind him.

Nico jumped, his hand flung towards the unknown voice as if to hit the owner of the voice. But even before he turned, his hand was swatted away with such a great force and quickness that Nico almost missed it when his hand hit his glass of lemonade.

The glass crashed on the floor, shards spreading everywhere on the floor. The sound of glass, as it skittered away skidding beneath the tables, was the only source of noise. The cafeteria had fallen entirely silent. Nico could hear his own heart beat ringing in his ears.

He made a move to turn slowly, but a firm hand on his shoulder kept him seated.

“No.” said the voice. Nico stilled. As if on their own accord, Nico’s legs seemed paralysed; he couldn’t move.

There was a clicking of shoes on the floor, the sound echoing in the hushed room. And then there was a face, smiling down at Nico. Nico felt nothing but defensive after witnessing the little tilt of the man’s lips; it had no warmth, only a cold formal sort of curve of the lips that enunciated the chilly look in his dark eyes. Glossy dark hair fell over his left eye, covering it from view.

“Oh, Nico.” The man whispered. His accent betrayed his Asian descent. “Don’t be so petrified. I’m not dangerous.”

A small breath left Nico’s mouth. He was sure disbelief was painted all over his face.

The man settled beside Will and folded his hands on the table, as if he were some salaryman awaiting lunchtime.  His eyes pierced through Nico’s and even though, by principle, Nico never looked away first, he found that he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. He had frozen completely. The man in front of him, however, stretched his legs.

“What do you want?” Nico said, almost snarling. He was surprised he could move his lips.

The man’s eyes darkened impossibly. Nico thought he saw just a hint of golden in them. Nico had almost made up his mind that the man in front of him was a Vampire, when he spoke revealing a peek of his fangs.

“Pleasantries are important, Nico.” The man said in the same smooth cold voice he had spoken in before. He was unaffected by the ferocity in Nico’s eyes and the aura of darkness that had started glowing behind him. “I’m Ethan Nakamura and I’m probably the only person who won’t lie to you.”

“What do you want?” Nico repeated, stressing each syllable with vicious intensity. His fingers itched as the tips began to grow shadowy. Something was happening in that place that Nico didn’t understand and he didn’t like it.

The man sighed and leaned back. His fangs reappeared as he spoke slowly. “I am here to offer you my advice. Regardless of whether or not you choose to take it, I have to clarify, I come here for balancing the scales. You are at a disadvantage, Nico, and everyone knows it but you.”

That was no clarification, instead Nico found himself more confounded by the minute. “If you want to drink from me or kill me, get on with it, Ethan.”

Ethan bowed respectfully. “Tempting, but no. I sense vengeance in you Nico, a misplaced thirst for avenging the things that happened to you.”

Nico grit his teeth. Ethan is a vampire, Nico reminded himself. It was easy for him to play those mind games. It was in the past, he tried to remind himself. All gone.

Ethan sighed when Nico refused to answer. “Does Percy know, Nico?” he asked in a solemn voice. One would think he was talking about some really grave matter. Beside him, Will’s hand twitched.

Nico looked him dead in the eyes. “There is nothing I’ve hidden from him.” He replied in a levelled voice.

Ethan smiled. “Don’t try to be diplomatic, little one. It doesn’t suit you.” He leaned forward. “Is your mate honestly so dumb to not realize that you are special?”

“Ethan.” Nico said, trying to mask his face. “I don’t know what you actually want, or who you are, but know this. There is nothing that Percy’s doesn’t know more than he already has to know.”

“It would be rather pitiful for him to know that you’ve been meeting you dear wolf sister behind his back.” Ethan sneered. His eyes were alight with mirth, a complete contrast to the tone his voice conveyed. “Or that you think he doesn’t deem you capable enough to defend yourself against others of our kind? Isn’t that why two of his minions are accompanying you here, little one?”

Nico blanched. He hadn’t expected this foreign vampire to know the exact thought process inside his mind. He refrained from gritting his teeth again; the vampire in front of him apparently didn’t need external cues to set him on edge.

Ethan continued as if he hadn’t stopped. “Does he know the darkness you have inside you?” he said, chuckling at his own little joke. “Why do you have that darkness, Nico? Because poor Maria died for you? Because your sister chose something else, over you? Because you couldn’t become the werewolf you were ultimately born to be? Does your mate know about this, Nico? That you were almost a werewolf? Has he unlocked your tragic back-story, yet?”

Nico sighed. “I am going to tell it to Percy, in due time. I know that I’m not being entirely truthful to him, or any of the coven members, but-”

“You still don’t trust them.” Concluded Ethan. “Funny, because they don’t trust you either. Has the coven told you about why there’s a cold war going on between Percy and his ex-lover, Luke? Have they told you what they even are doing right now?”

“Luke isn’t Percy’s ex-lover!” he yelled. “And I _do_ know what they coven is doing right now! They’re patrolling.”

Ethan smirked. “Patrolling what?”

Nico backtracked.  He wasn’t supposed to tell this. What if Ethan was with Luke, with the enemy? “I don’t know.” And that was the truth and he spoke it. There really was a lot of it that he didn’t know. Ethan was probably doing this purposely; Nico trusted Percy and the coven to a large extent, not completely maybe. But Ethan was making him question everything he’d known. There was always a larger part of it which was kept away from, unknown to him.

“No, you don’t.” Ethan agreed. “They aren’t entirely truthful. They’re vampires; they don’t trust humans, even if you are the coven’s first mate.”

“How do you know all this?” Nico asked. His back was beginning to hurt from being rigid for too long.

Ethan’s smirk didn’t leave his face. “You’re coven isn’t the only one with which can consult an oracle, Nico. I have my own resources, too.” He got up, dusting off the wrinkles on his immaculate clothes. He gave a businesslike smile to Nico. “I have to leave now, sadly. I have to go and spy on your dear mate’s little rendez-vous with Luke.”

Ethan patted Nico’s shoulder as he disappeared from Nico’s periphery, with a whisper ringing in his ears.

“If you want to find me, don’t. I’ll know when you’re looking for me, Nico.”

“Nico.”

“Nico!”

Brightness exploded in front of his eyes as he felt a hand shaking him roughly. It was Will.

Nco blinked rapidly. Will was almost done with his pack of chips. The cafeteria was noisy, as if it was some shopping district.

No one seemed to be aware that there had been something or someone supernatural with them in the room. No one, save for Nico.

“Are you sure it’s just an ache?” Will said with a concerned voice. “You fell unconscious for a few minutes there. You almost hit your head on the edge of the table.”

Nico’s heartbeats were fast and his palms were clammy. That definitely wasn’t a dream. But Will wouldn’t get it; he was only a mortal.

“Yeah, just sleep deprived.” He lied through his teeth and faked a yawn.

Will didn’t look convinced, but smiled anyway. “Drink up your lemonade. We need to get back before the teacher notices us missing.”

Nico snorted. “Yeah, a bathroom break can only last so long.”

* * *

 

When they got back, the group was almost done with the study tour of the museum. Will and Nico pulled out their notebooks immediately and started pretending to be interested in the painting before them.

Hazel was frowning, Nico noticed. Frank was worriedly looking over his shoulder. Nico avoided their eyes as they passed by him to get a closer look at an adjacent painting. He simply inched closer to Will with the reason of looking at his rough notes.

Frank gave him a displeased look, but didn’t comment.

Later, after the study visit was over, Nico hurried over to the parking lot where Frank and Hazel were going to wait for him. Instead, he found Octavian leaning against their car. 

Nico didn’t pretend he wasn’t uneasy. “What’re you doing here?” he asked, stopping a good ten feet away from the car. “Where’re Frank and Hazel?”

Octavian looked annoyed. “Just get in the car, okay. They had to go somewhere for Percy.” He got in the driver’s seat and reared up the engine. He rolled his eyes when he noticed that Nico hadn’t moved. The window glass was rolled down and Octavian sighed. “Look, you can call Frank or Hazel or Percy if you want.”

Nico was going to do just that. He reached for his phone and on unlocking it, he found three texts waiting to be seen.

_**Percy** : Hey, Nico. Octavian will be there to pick you up. Wait for him in the parking lot. Come back soon _ _J_

_**Hazel** : Frank and I have to rush somewhere. We’ve left the car in the parking. Someone will come to pick you up. Don’t go home alone. _

_**Hazel** : We will have a talk about what happened during the visit when we get back. You have no idea how worried we were. _

Nico grit his teeth. These vampires, they weren’t his parents. They had no right to follow him or boss him around like this. Grudgingly, Nico slid in the backseat and slammed the door shut.

Octavian glanced at him through the rear view mirror. Nico glared at him. Octavian chuckled as he drove out of the lot.

* * *

Percy was lounging on the bed when Nico got back. If he noticed his sour face, Percy didn’t show it. Instead he scooted his legs so that Nico could sit.

Nico didn’t. He gave a long look to the huge window behind the bed and dropped his gaze to Percy’s resting form. His eyes were closed, legs crossed and hands behind his head, as if he was some regular ordinary human on the verge of falling asleep. He looked the part very well.

Nico felt a surge of anger that he couldn’t explain. He thought of how clueless he’d have been, had his sister not told him. Or Ethan. He wanted to just punch Percy in the gut for deceiving him like this. Hadn’t he said that Luke was his enemy now? Wasn’t Nico his mate? Didn’t he fucking deserve to know?

Nico let out an angry huff and threw his sac on the ground. He was sure his phone inside the sac broke, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t hit Percy and Percy could probably block him without blinking. Nico remembered the first time he had tried to defy Percy by telling him that he didn’t want to stay in the coven’s house. His arm had been bruised from the harsh grip Percy had held his arm with. He knew it was unintentional, and that Percy would’ve never hurt him, but at that moment it just made him want to get away from Percy.

Percy’s eyes opened at the noise and his eyes flicked over from the bag on the floor to Nico, but Nico was already stomping down the stairs.

Octavian who had just come in after parking the car, chuckled once more as Nico strode out of the house. He muttered something which sounded surreptitiously like “Idiot.” As Nico stormed past him as fast as his human legs could take him.

* * *

 

It was a miracle that Nico hadn’t dropped from exhaustion by the time he reached the house. His house. Or what would’ve been his, had it not been for the fire that had destroyed it.

The wood was in splinters, the roof had collapsed inwards. The blackened remains were half lodged into the earth. There was the disgusting smell of some defecation in the backyard. Ferns had grown over the half-ruins and the occasional mouse squeaked as it crawled inside.

He remembered the fire, his mother’s screams as she tried shielding Nico and Bianca from the wolves which were pulling them away from her. He remembered the deafening silence once two hands had gripped him tightly and pulled him away, succeeding to separate him from his mother.

There were a few others who were struggling to get a hold of Bianca, who screamed at the people with furious yells as her claws began to poke out of her skin. The person holding him had also seen that, for they were suddenly pushing Nico out of the burning house and let out howls, calling out to other werewolves as they transformed right before Nico. 

A small nine year old Nico, whimpered on the ground. The push that the werewolf had given him had made him fall down, watching as flames soared high in the sky and he helplessly cried even more.

His mother was in there, with those werewolves who looked that they wanted to tear her apart. And Bianca, his sister, who was not even three years older than he was, was shielding his mother from those rogues.

“Bia!” he wailed, trying to stand up.  But his legs failed him and he collapsed down again, his short body making only a low thunk as he fell down again. “Mama!” he cried out louder. His small hands clutched at the yellowing grass on the ground as snot dripped down his chin. He uprooted a few tendrils, throwing them helplessly at the house as the flames grew brighter.

Then a window broke and a wolf jumped out. The wolf held another by the neck. It was a much smaller wolf, with matted dark brown fur. It sniped at the other wolf holding it, who deftly manoeuvred its hold so that the smaller wolf couldn’t hurt it.

Nico knew the smaller wolf. “Bianca!” he yelled. He crawled on all fours when his energy failed him. When his sister noticed him, she struggled out of the bigger wolf’s hold and ran over to Nico shielding him from the other wolf. She licked Nico, as if to say that she was here now. Nico hid behind her furry leg.

But the other wolf didn’t attack. Instead it prowled between the two children and the house, as if marking an invisible line for them to not cross.

But his mother, she was still inside. “Mama!” he cried loudly, this time succeeding to wobble a few steps towards the burning house. But something held him back. It was Bianca, her teeth digging into his shirt as she held him back with an agitated growl.  

“Bia! Mama is inside!” he cried out, trying to ease his shirt out of her snout. But Bianca didn’t let go. “Bia! Bianca!” he sobbed harder, a scream building in his throat as the roof collapsed inward in an explosion of fumes and dust.

Something was pulling him farther away, farther from his mother. Nico struggled against his sister as the wolf attempted to drag him back.

He cried and cried, his hands held out forward, as if reaching for the place. He jerked so violently that the wolf let go of his shirt and he collapsed. Without wasting time, he got to his feet and ran as fast he could.

But then his path was blocked by the other wolf, the one which had dragged his sister out.

And Nico just lost it. He sank to the ground and let out the shrillest scream. Nico couldn’t feel. The sounds dulled around him, his eyes dimmed. He let out a blood curdling scream for his mother, who was still there, inside the alight house. He was so loud, yet everything was enveloped in a deafening silence; he couldn’t hear the words escape his mouth. “Mama!” he screamed, his hands coming to his forehead as a powerful gust of wind blew and the land beneath him quaked.

Nico felt like there was a numbness that was going to overpower him; he couldn’t help it as his sobs quietened down and it started growing darker before his eyes. He let out a last choked sob as his head met the ground, dried grass crunching tangling with his hair.

Nico didn’t realize he had tears in his eyes till they fell down, dampening his cheeks and trailing across his neck, down his throat.

He wondered if his mother was still here, after all these years, under the rubble.

He wondered why they had come at all. Vampires and werewolves did not exactly invite each other for tea parties, but there was an amicable distance between the two species. At least, Nico had believed so.

There was so much about his mother’s death that he didn’t know. He knew there was something more to it, but even Bianca had refused to talk about it the few times he had asked her about it when they were living with their cousin, Persephone.

Nico sighed. His mud stained boots left imprints in the ground as he trudged closer to the ruins of his old house.

Persephone had been his distant cousin who gained his and Bianca’s guardianship and took them to live with her. Nico was barely 10, then. Persephone was a great woman, just in her early thirties, but she didn’t look a day older than 22.

“It’s the Greek in me.” She used to joke with her kind voice. She had never clarified how exactly they had been related, but she’d always said that she never knew her distant family well enough.

Nico didn’t question it much when he was younger. He wasn’t as hot headed as Bianca and actually adored Persephone. There had been something odd between Bianca and Persephone, but they didn’t show it in front of Nico. But then Bianca left, two days after her 16th birthday.

Nico was just 13. She didn’t ask him to come with her. He stayed inside his room for weeks, quietly doing his homeward and eating his food. Persephone didn’t hold it against him.

Then when Nico was 17, just a year ago, she had crashed into a trailer. Her car had been crushed beyond repair. They didn’t let him see the body, because it would’ve traumatised him. Nico was sent to a foster house. His foster fathers Charon and Thanatos were decent enough but Nico didn’t grow too attached to them, lest they died as well.

When Nico turned 18, he moved to New York with the little money that his mother had left him. He had almost given up the hope of finding Bianca ever again.

But then his life had decided to make a full circle by not only bringing him back to this place, but also right into enemy territory. The scariest thing was, Nico didn’t know whether the vampires or the werewolves were his enemy turf.

Nico bent down and sat near the doorway, spreading his legs and leaning back on his hands. The tears had dried on his face and he was breathing heavily. This little trip down the memory lane had cost him more emotional drainage.

Nico closed his eyes with a forlorn sigh. He should tell Percy. It wasn’t fair to keep this secret from him. Maybe Percy was keeping secrets from him for his own safety. Percy didn’t know, he justified. Percy didn’t know Nico was capable of handling himself against vampires.

Percy didn’t know that it was his fault that his mother had died.

Leaves crunched behind him, just the barest of sounds audible as footsteps approached him.

Nico sighed. He hadn’t hoped to be left to his own devices for this long. He knew Percy or someone else would come looking for him. After all, he’d left his phone and wallet at the coven’s house. And he had walked here.

Nico looked up. It wasn’t Percy. It was Ethan.

Ethan smiled at him, his eye crinkling. “Hello, Nico. I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.” He crouched to his level. His smile turned in a slow smirk. “Rough day?”

Nico blinked in annoyance. “I’m really starting to detest vampires.” He hadn’t noticed that the sky had turned from blue into an orange-ish sheen. “What are you here for?” he snapped.

Ethan’s smirk made him uneasy.

“I told you, I wanted to even the scales. I told you, you’d know where to find me.”

Nico subtly changed his posture; he was no longer leaning back. He slouched a bit towards the front, his hair falling over his eyes. He made a show of rolling his eyes. Surprisingly, unlike when Ethan had met him during the day, Nico didn’t feel on edge.

“Technically, you found me.”

“Oh, no.” Ethan said. He nodded behind Nico. “She found you.”

Nico turned to look and froze. He couldn’t believe it. She looked just the way she had when he had last seen her.

In the periphery, the sun descended and was consumed by the sea. The day stilled slowly into night.

Nico felt that surge of rage again. He took a wild guess, almost snarling. “You’re a vampire, too, aren’t you?”

The pale skin that looks radiant in the growing darkness was enough of an answer.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all the readers, old and new who keep on commenting and motivating this lazy arse to write.   
> If the dates/ ages in the chapter are confusing, please let me know. I'll put a timeline in the end chapter notes. 
> 
> Also, if you think i'm getting too slow in the updates, you can spam me in the comments or yell at me on tumblr, [here](http://www.slysilverslytherin.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> Things to keep in mind while reading the story:  
> Vampires have reflections.  
> Vampire are not repelled by garlic, holy water. They can be killed only when a vampire willingly gives up his damned soul or is burned.  
> Vampires do not burn in sunlight. However, it renders them very weak.


End file.
